Don't Be Afraid
by Tess Carver
Summary: (POST- Season 2 of TWD) Tess Carver is the only daughter of a man who leads a large camp, which they like to call the "Community". When she meets two certain farm boys, who are apart of a certain group who Tess's Father certainly DOESN'T trust, how will she feel after being hurt once? What will happen now? ((SEQUEL COMING SOON TO Present SEASON 2!)) Rated T/M
1. Chapter 1

**Celebrityfan here! So...HERE IT IS! :D I'm on a roll today, GAIS! **

**I Don't Own THE WALKING DEAD! Only Tess! and Coleen!**

**So, Vote in my Poll. It's about Nick and Alvin...Go on, Go! Well, go AFTER you read this chapter.**

**By the way, Since we don't know Carver's age, I want to say that he's around 47-48 years old, and Tess is about...uh, 22-23-ish...and Coleen's about 45-46. Do the Math, and BAM! We have parents old enough to have a 20-something year old Daughter! GENIUS CELIE :DD!**

* * *

"Tess...Wake up!"

My eyes blinked open at the sound of my Father's voice. I looked down at myself; I slept in the same clothes; a pair of jeans, black tank top, Brown sweat jacket with a green vest over it...Damn.

"Mornin' Sleepyhead!" He said enthusiastically.

"Ugh...What time is it?" I groaned, sitting up on my cot to look at my Dad, who was standing at my Tent entrance.

He checked his watch. "About...Quarter to Nine."

That's when I shot up from bed. I was late!

"Shit! It's Laundry Day! Mom's gonna be Pissed!" I said, hurrying to get my Combat Boots on, ignoring Dad's laughter as he watched me. I was never one to sleep in. The usual wake-up time for me was about Seven-Thirty, sometimes even Eight-Fifteen, If I'm LUCKY. But Quarter to Nine?! That's a Fucking Doozy!

"Why the Hell didn't you or Mom wake me up, Dad?! You KNOW that I can't ever be late for laundry Day!" I asked him angrily. I HATED being late for anything, especially Laundry Day. It was against the rules.

Dad held his hands up in surrender, still smiling.

"Alright, Darlin', Don't blow a Gasket. I cancelled it for Today." He said, exiting out of my Tent. I dropped my small bag of Laundry in Surprise. It wasn't everyday my Dad cancelled something with my Mom's dominant schedule...unless...

I grinned to myself.

Excited, I quickly went after my Dad.

We were getting newcomers today!

I caught up with Dad, keeping his pace. A small silence settled around us, not including the small murmurs of our survivors around the Camp. "So...How many did we get this time?" I asked, breaking the ice.

Dad glanced at me as he put an arm around my shoulder. "About Eight. A couple of Farm Boys and an Old man with his sister. Spanish guy and his daughter. Big Black Guy and his wife."

I widened my Hazel eyes. That's...a lot!

"Eight!? All at the same time?!" I asked. Dad chuckled at my Bewilderment and nodded. "Yeah. Some of our men found them cooped up in a Store somewhere up in Town while they were on a Run. Damn Lurkers nearly got 'em. But we saved 'em, Got what supplies were left and still Fresh, then we gathered up the survivors and left."

I nodded. "They didn't...FORCE these people to come, right?"

"Of course not! They came willingly." Dad replied as Mom passed us.

Mom spotted Dad and I and smiled at us, her Grey eyes sparkling. I smiled back and waved. Dad followed my gaze and forced a small smile. He didn't wave.

Mom put her hand down and walked away, her Platinum Blonde hair fluttering in the gentle wind in her Bandanna headband.

I sighed mentally as Dad walked a tad bit faster with me in tow. Mom and Dad were divorced before Shit hit the Fan. They were married for about 16 months, including Mom's 9-month pregnancy with me, before they finally settled with divorce and each had Shared Custody of me. Of course, they're still friends, and sometimes I catch Dad kissing Mom on the cheek, but other than that they don't really see eye-to-eye. But they DO have their good days.

My thoughts were interrupted as we neared the entrance to camp, where I could see a group of people sitting at the Picnic tables we set up for newcomers. They appeared to be chattering amongst each other.

"We're here! Ready to meet some new friends, Tessie?" Dad asked. I smiled at him.

"Hell Yes." I replied.

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**YUS! Chapter 1 IZ DOWWWWNNNEEE!**

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-Celie OUT!


	2. Welcome, Newcomers!

**I don't own THE WALKING DEAD! Only Tess and Coleen!**

* * *

**_Recap:_**

**_"You ready to meet some new friends, Tessie?" _**

**_"Hell Yes."_**

* * *

"Howdy, Folks!" Dad took his arm from my shoulders, letting me lag behind as we approached the new people. They all turned to us, staring warily. I looked at all of them, taking them in. Their Physical descriptions fit what Dad told me. They all looked friendly.

"Welcome to my Camp. I'm William Carver, but most people just call me Carver." Dad greeted the Newcomers.

I walked up to his side, feeling his hand on my shoulder. "And this is my Daughter, Tess."

I smiled kindly to the Newcomers and waved lightly. "Hello." I said cheerfully. Some of the Group smiled and waved back, and the others just remained silent.

I noticed a Spanish girl of about 15 years old peeking out from her behind her Father's back to look at Dad and I shyly. I stepped up to the Spanish guy and his daughter, holding out my hand in greeting.

"_Hola, Encantada de conocerte, Senor_...?" I asked in Spanish. The Spanish man smiled and shook my hand. "_Gracias, me llamo Carlos_." The girl behind him looked confused, as if she didn't know how to speak Spanish fluently as Carlos and I did. She looked up at her Father, silently asking permission. Carlos smiled warmly at her, encouraging her. Then she looked back at me. She was so cute!

She slowly took my other hand, shaking it lightly. "I'm Sarah!" She said, her red glasses flashing.

I felt her put something in my hands. It felt light and stringy. I pulled my hand away to see a small bracelet made out of Green string and bright colored beads. I blinked, This kid wants to be my friend, even though she'd just met me not even 30 seconds ago?

I looked back at her smiling face, mildly surprised. Sarah held up her own wrist, revealing a matching bracelet hanging loosely on her tanned wrist.

"Best friends forever?" She asked, holding out her pinky finger. I shrugged and wrapped my own Pinky finger around hers, sealing the deal.

"A Pinky swear is forever!" She said, laughing as I gently ruffled her black hair. Then she walked back to Carlos's side, no longer shy of Dad and I.

Behind me, Dad chuckled. "Making friends already, Tess?"

I looked back at him. "Oh, You shut up." I remarked, though my smile didn't waver. Dad smiled back at me, then turned back to the Newcomers.

"So who are you people? Do you have names, or are y'all just those gangs who have stupid nicknames like 'Snake', besides Carlos and Sarah?" Dad asked them, crossing his arms across his chest, his tone serious. I rolled my eyes, my Dad was always doing this whenever Newcomers were welcomed into our camp. But he had a right to. People in this world nowadays are so...fucked up...

"No, We're good people, Carver. I'm Luke." A man with a Machete strapped to his back stepped forward, looking at my Dad with a straight face. He looked like he was somewhat the Leader.

"Nick." A guy with a cap hat on spoke up-Was that a fucking HALO reference?!. The woman beside him said, "Marie. I'm Nick's mother. And this is my brother, Pete." She waved her hand at the man beside her. So Pete was the "Old guy with his sister."

The Big Black Guy with glasses and his wife stepped forward. "I'm Alvin, and this is my wife, Rebecca."

Dad turned his gaze to Rebecca. "Rebecca..." I heard him whisper under his breath. I turned to look at him. His eyes had a slight daze...Wait a minute. "Dad?" I said to get his attention. He seemed to snap out of his daze as he glanced at me. Then he realized that the Group was giving him weird looks.

Dad cleared his throat, preparing the small speech that he almost always gave out now...The Rules.

"This Camp...It's not a playground. We run a Wake-up and Night-time schedule here, and anyone that's late will lose some privileges for the day, and that's only a Warning. The Second time you're late...More privileges will be gone, and you'll have Part-time Duties! And you don't even want to be late for the Third and final time...You'll get Full-time Duties, and almost ALL of your privileges will be gone! If you want to stay here, then you have to earn your keep! You'll have to work for it! Of course, you'll all get some hours to relax, but once that dinner bell rings," He pointed to a pole with a Dinner bell hanging on it. "Then it's back to work. Don't worry, at least It'll give you all something to do. We all have jobs to do, so these people know what you will go through. I hope we can all get along with each other...every one of us." And with that, he stared at Luke before walking off elsewhere.

I rolled my eyes again and faced the newcomers.

Alvin asked, "Is he always like that?"

I knew he was referring to Dad. "No, not always...Why?" I replied.

That's when Rebecca, for the first time I've met her, spoke up. "Why? Because we're not going to stay here if our leader's going to be and asshole. That's not how our group does things..." She snapped, glaring at me. I said nothing, just kept my poker face on. It helped hide my anger when it came to calling my Dad names. I never liked it when anyone did that. No one did that but me...

Alvin put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from saying or doing anything else. "Bec, stop. Leave the girl alone." He said, then he looked at me almost tiredly. "Sorry, Tess. We're all on edge. We haven't eaten much in the past few days. Most of the food in the store we were staying at was rotten to hell."

I started to notice that everyone in the group had light circles under their eyes, and they all looked like they could use a meal.

I stared at them for a moment before I nodded my head in understanding.

"I understand," I said, closing my eyes. "Don't beat yourselves over what you had to do. Before this fortress was built, Mom, Dad and I...we were nearly starved-" I froze, stopping myself before I said anymore. _SHIT!_

A frowning Nick asked, "Um...What happened?"

I looked at him with a small sad look, saying nothing. He was probably pitying me...I HATED pity...I don't want anyone _ever _pitying me...

I turned my head away, not wanting to talk about this subject. Then I forced a small smile at him.

"Nothing..." I breathed. I turned my gaze to the rest of the group. "Now. Follow me and I'll show you where we'll get you some food, then we'll see where you'll be settling in."

I started to walk away... "Oh! And one more thing." I stopped and turned my head so that they could see the corner of my eye.

"...Welcome."

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**10 REVIEWS!**

THNX GAIS! :)

So some of you know, and some of you don't, I changed the poll deadline to March 30th. It's doing well! Keep it up!

I wanted to put in some one or two theme songs for Carlos and Sarah! I love their relationship!

**Edelweiss-Vince Hill**

**Demons-Imagine Dragons.**

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Love you, Popstars!

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	3. Blueberries

**Hello! It's Celie! **

**Now, we didn't reach 10+ reviews :(... but out of the kindness of my heart, I'm giving you guys another chapter! YAY! It may seem a little boring, but comment in the crotch and leave a nice, long review! I'd like some that'll take up the whole page! :DDDD**

**(COUGHCOUGHPLANIACOUGHCOUGHEMBERCOUGHCOUGHYUMMY42COUGHCOUGH-Ahem...)**

**As for the Poll, I have closed it. Don't worry, the choices have been made! And there should be a new poll in my profile! If not, let me know!**

**Now, Read on, Popstars! **

**(BTW, Ember, I'll try to edit this!)**

* * *

**_Recap:_**

**_"...Welcome."_**

* * *

"This is where y'all will eat. I'll go into the kitchens and tell the cooks to make y'all some good grub!" I waved my hand over to the picnic tables that were protected from the sun underneath some shady tents. I watched as the group sat down in their desired spots, relieved to have been up off of their feet.

As I walked to the kitchens, Sarah caught my eye; she grinned at me and waved a little. I could see her bracelet gently bouncing against her skin. I smiled gently at her just before I walked into the kitchen...which was basically a trailer home with kitchen equipment...Oh, well. Kitchen Sweet Kitchen! Better to make the best of it.

The two main chefs were adult siblings; a man named Omar and his younger sister, Leslie. They volunteered to be the main chefs because they both used to own their own individual restaurant businesses before. I'm glad they did, because those two could whip up a mean can of beans! and with the help of a few assistants, they can cook up some righteous venison! But right now, they were making a bit of a ruckus with the pots and pans. It looked like they were tidying up the kitchen; shuffling around the kitchen and slamming cabinets.

"Yo, Les! Omar!" I yelled over the noises, covering my ears. They both stopped what they were doing and stood beside each other in front of me, awaiting their orders.

"Yes, Tess?" Leslie spoke for herself and Omar. Omar was a mute, so Leslie usually spoke for him. I cleared my throat before I spoke in a clear, firm tone.

"We have newcomers today. Eight of them to be exact, and they haven't eaten a lot in the past few days. So let's put some of that meat and berries to some good use, Yes?" I said, not breaking any eye contact. They both nodded enthusiastically, and that made me smile a bit. "Alright, let's get to work." I clapped my hands together once. "And make it a double for these ones!"

As Leslie and Omar went outside of the trailer on their way to get into the food storage to receive the needed ingredients, I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms, closing my eyes in thought...This could take a while...

"Hey, Tess!"

I jumped, startled at the new voice beside me. On reflex, my hand flew to the gun holster on my hip as I spun around, blindly making a move to grab the person by the neck and slam their back into the wall. But instead I felt that person grab my hands to keep me from doing anything, and I struggled until I heard, "Whoa! Calm down, Tess!"

Wait.

That sounded familiar...

I looked directly at the person to see a very surprised Luke. I gasped and he let me go.

"Shit! Luke, I'm so sorry! It was a reflex!" I apologized, running my hands through my Light brown hair. "Jesus...Don't do that, Man! I could've killed you If you hadn't stopped me!"

Luke stood up straight, slightly out of breath from the struggle. "Damn! Remind me to never piss YOU off..." He said with a small smirk. I lightly glared at him, crossing my arms across my chest. "You're lucky I didn't kill you with a heart attack...anyway, what are you doing here?"

Luke put his hands on his hips. "Nah, I just went easy on you...anyways, my group sent me here. They want to know what we're having." He said plainly.

I turned my back to him, arms still crossed. "Deer and Squirrel meat with canned corn and some Blueberries..." I muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"What?! Blueberries! That's...You're lying!" Luke argued, pointing at my back childishly.

I turned back to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "The hell? Why do you say that?" I asked.

Luke crossed his arms. "Because Blueberries are a rarity out here! There's no way that they'll be able to grow in this kind of weather, and DEFINETLY not enough for Eighty-something people!"

I rolled my eyes. Was this guy calling me a liar?!

"Well, they did! Don't believe me? Then you'll see at Mealtime! We've kept a lot of blueberries stocked up, and we found more yesterday. Luckily, there's more than enough for at least 90 of us, if they keep themselves fresh." I said, shuttering at the thought of putting those disgusting blue beasties in my mouth.

Luke noticed my disgust and widened his eyes. "You don't like 'em?" He asked bewildered. The hell...He must REALLY like this kind of fruit...a really, really icky, Blue-y, picky, blicky...ICK!

I slowly shook my head, and he flipped out.

"What the FUCK!? How can you NOT like them?! Blueberries are amazing!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air.

Then Luke turned to me, expecting an answer.

All I did was smile and say, "I just never really liked 'em...They were always weird-tasting to me..." I giggled at his flustered face, "you're so immature!"

Luke scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Please! I am mature!"

I scoffed back mockingly and said, "Says the one throwing a hissy fit because I don't like blueberries."

Luke smiled sheepishly at me, then he turned serious again.

"How do you deal with trying to help lead this entire camp? It has to be hard." He asked, frowning.

We were going there, huh?

I huffed, looking up into Luke's dark brown eyes that bore into my own hazel ones. He was silent, expectant. Sighing, I decided to reply. He knew what it was like, right? He had to understand...

"Dad and I try our best. We keep the schedules, we hunt for the food, we scavenge whatever we can to keep this entire camp alive, even if it means missing a meal or two myself. The food that I don't eat goes to the ones who've gone longer than me without food, like you and your people. I do anything to protect this camp and its survivors. I'm the one who goes out, taking a risk every few days to get some supplies...It's not easy, and we've had some close calls time to time, but I manage." I explained, pretending to take interest in my boots.

Luke nodded...

"What about...when Carver ...you know...?" He seemed hesitant to ask me, but he did. I know what he was implying.

I turned around, leaning on the counter. I let my eyes close and I was silent for a moment. "..."

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked that..." Luke immediately apologized, but I shook my head.

"It's okay," I said blankly, "When _that_ time comes, I have to become the leader. Mom will just help out...but hopefully it won't _ever _come to that." I turned my head to glare very lightly at him before turning it back. He couldn't help it if he was curious, but...I don't like talking about my Dad's eventual death.

I felt his hand on my shoulder. I, not expecting this touch, tensed up for a moment. Then I relaxed.

"Tess..." Luke said, gently turning my body around to face him. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean-"

"No...It's okay. Really. You didn't know." I said, cutting him off with a small forced smile.

Luke's eyes bore into mine again...Brown clashing with Hazel...

I blinked, realizing that his hand was still on my shoulder. I broke eye contact to gently brush it off.

"You should go and check on the group...You've been gone awhile." I said, looking down at my boots.

He only smiled at me and walked to the door, stopped at the doorway, and gave me a lingering glance just before he walked out.

When Luke was out of sight, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. What the hell? Why the fuck am I...scared?

"Shut up..." I told myself, shaking my head to get my thoughts together. Great, now I'm talking to myself...

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	4. Blueberry mannerisms

**Hello, Popstars!**

**Celie here!**

**Thanks so much for the reviews, they were great and you guys helped inspire me :,)**

**Today when I checked my inbox, I was like;**

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**I DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD!**

* * *

_**Recap: **_

_**Great...now I'm talking to myself...**_

* * *

I leaned against the kitchen counter with my head in my hands, thinking about what had just went down with Luke. It really was a good thing he was so strong and he's lucky to have stopped me, or else I could've seriously hurt him. Or worse, killed him...

Hard to believe this, coming from a 22-year-old woman who weighs about 125 pounds and is 5"6 inches tall? Yeah, I know. But it's true. I've done it a lot in the past...

To the dead...

AND the living...

NO!

I shook my head, trying to get those thoughts out. I didn't need to dwell on the past. What happened, fucking happened...

"Damn..." I mumbled to myself, blocking the memories from my mind and pushing them to the back of my brain. But no matter how hard I try, they come back.

I took a deep breath, calming the upcoming emotions welling up in my heart. These ones hurt so DAMN much...

"Tess, calm down...You're fine..." I whispered to myself, covering my eyes with one hand in frustration. My free hand was clutching the edge of the counter hard, so hard that my knuckles were almost white. But I didn't care at the time. I was busy dealing with my mental stability, which I haven't dealt with in a long while.

_Don't dwell on the past...Don't dwell on it...Don't dwell on the past!_

"_Tess?...Sweetie_?" I heard a voice faintly reach my ears. It sounded very vague, very distant. It had a small echo to it, as if I were far away. I ignored it, thinking it was a figment of my imagination.

"Tessie?" Now it sounded closer, but still distant. I stayed where I was.

"Tess!"

My eyes snapped open and my head jerked up at the suddenly very close voice near my ears. I turned my head to my right and saw Mom.

It was her who was calling me. Her pretty, tanned but slightly wrinkled skin was scrunched up in concern; It didn't look right on her. She didn't have her usual bright smile on her pink lips; instead it was replaced with a light frown.

Mom blinked her gray eyes at my sudden reaction. "Honey, are you alright? You look pale." She asked, her tone concerned as she stepped next to me, her hand touching my shoulder comfortably.

I let her touch me as I forced a small smile, wanting the comfort I was being offered. "Just peachy!" I lied. At that moment I knew that Mom could read me like a book. My eyes gave it away; what I was really feeling...Anger, Sadness, Grief...Self-Blame...

That's the thing about her; Mom can look you in the eyes and pretty much just tell what you're feeling. Amazing, right? Yes, but also irritating.

She saw the look in my eyes and sighed, moving her other hand to my other shoulder. "Oh, honey..." She said, her eyes full of...I could see it, PITY!

My anger slowly rose as she continued,

"I know you miss him, but-"

I suddenly pushed her hands away, "DON'T...!" I nearly screamed, but I caught myself before I snapped. "Sorry...just. Don't. " I said, looking down ashamed.

Mom smiled the tiniest bit, "It's alright honey. You don't want to talk about it...It's okay. It's good to blow off some steam every now and then. Everyone has their days." Then her face turned serious. "I saw Luke on the way here. Did he do or say anything to hurt you?"

"No," I said. "But he did jump me. Luckily he was strong enough to stop me from killing him."

"So...nothing harsh was said? Nothing at all?"

"No, Mother!" I laughed, shaking my head at her protectiveness. "...Okay, then." Mom chuckled, ruffling my hair.

Then I remembered something. The grub!

"Hey, when are Omar and Les coming back? It's been over 10 minutes! They should've been back by now." I asked, fixing my hair and standing up.

Mom shrugged. "I'm not sure," She said, "But Leslie said that they were done about a minute ago."

I nodded and stood up. They were eating, then.

"Good. They look like they need it." I said, staring out the screen door at the nearby group. they appeared to be enjoying the food. Especially Luke, who was scarfing down the blueberries on his plate. I smiled on the inside, he was getting blueberry juices all over his face! Hehe...

I heard Mom's footsteps coming toward me. "Yes. That is very good, Tess. You sure know how to take care of these people...A natural leader, just like your Father." Mom said, smiling at me as she stood beside me, looking outside with me.

_...and Luke., _I thought.

I smiled back at her, this time genuinely. It meant a lot when she praised me, calling me a 'Natural Leader. It made me feel proud of who I am, who I am now; The soon-to-be leader. Hell, I already was; I was the one who was always deciding things...who got to eat, who wasn't pulling their own weight, the punishments...

"I'll see you later, Mom..." I said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek just before I ran out the screen door, hearing a small "Bye, Sweetie!" from my mother.

* * *

I casually walked over to the group tables, enjoying seeing them get their bellies full. It was good to see some hungry survivors eat to their heart's content. It made me smile.

"Hey, Tess!" I heard Luke call me. I saw him wave to me, beckoning me over to where he was sitting. I noticed that Nick was staring at me from beside Luke, smiling just the slightest bit. Marie and Pete were at another table, leaving Nick and Luke alone. "Over here!"

I smiled at him and walked toward his table. I stifled a laugh when I sat down.

Luke raised an eyebrow, "What?" He asked. I giggled, he was so oblivious! And Nick wasn't saying anything!

"Here." I chuckled as I reached toward his face, touching the blueberry staining his lips. He widened his eyes slightly at me, surprised at the sudden contact. His skin felt warm under my chilled fingers.

"What the...?" He started to say, but then he shut up as I wiped his lips free of the stains. I had to actually bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing! The look on Luke's face was PRICELESS! Nick snickered underneath his hand, trying to hide his smile.

When I pulled my hand away, I had a blue stain on my index finger and thumb. I showed it to him. When Luke saw it, he put his head down in embarrassment. I burst out laughing

"See?! You had this on your face! Good to know that I have someone who can have my plate of blueberries!" I said in between laughs. I wiped my fingers on my pant leg.

"Shut up..." Luke muttered when he lifted his head, pouting. His cheeks were flushed from embarrassment. I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. Luke did it back to me...He had blue stains all over his tongue! I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to not smile or laugh, but failed. Luke noticed his tongue and slid it back into his mouth, flushing more. As for Nick, he was struggling not to laugh as he bent over and hit the table with his fist, but I could hear it through his nose. I looked at Nick, smiling. He immediately bent his head ,so that his cap hid most of his face, and picked at his food with his fork, brushing the blueberries and corn around. I could still see his mouth tilting upward underneath his cap.

I realized that I haven't said a word to him since I sat at the table, so I scooted over so I was across from Nick. He glanced at me before going back to his food, taking a bite of the meat.

"So...How's the food, guys?" I asked, looking at Luke.

He smiled at me and said, "It's really great! My compliments to the Chef! Or should I say, Chefs." He took a bite of the meat, chewing it with that smile on his face. "I never knew Deer and Squirrel meat cooked together tasted so good!"

I could only smile at him before looking at Nick. "What about you, Nick? You think it's good, too?"

Nick looked up at me through his cap. "Y-yeah. It's really good, thanks." He said, looking into my eyes. I noticed that he had pretty baby blue eyes. I've always wanted that eye color...AH! DOWN, GIRL!

I could only smile at the boys' mannerisms. They were so...how do I say, Cute?

"Good," I said. "You all looked like you could use a good meal. It's nice to hear nice compliments of Leslie's and Omar's cooking."

Luke smiled warmly at me, "I bet. With 80-something people, It has to be hard to scavenge this much food AND cook for 'em." He said, drinking some of his water.

I nodded. "Yep. We have good trackers, so the hunts are easier. Hunting down squirrels is a Bitch, though." I explained, laying my chin in my hand.

Luke and Nick both laughed, and I joined in.

I looked around the tables; Everyone was happily chatting and eating.

My mother was still at the screen door, smiling at me. I smiled back.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all...

* * *

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	5. Sound of Music (Part 1)

**Hello, Popstars!**

**How are you? Good? Good! Thanks for the 7+ reviews! They really keep me going, I cannot thank you guys enough! Keep it up!**

**So there's a new poll in my profile, go and check that out, and choose wisely! You can only pick 2 choices! It's deadline is...April 2nd, otherwise I change it...Got it? Okay. BUT! MAKE! SURE! TO REQUEST! AFTER THIS! I CANNOT! STRESS! ENOUGH! and MAKE SURE to vote! I need your help here, Poppies! **

**Is that clear enough for ya? **

**You guys haven't been leaving requests for Tess and canon characters... Yet s****ome of you have been asking for more interaction between characters, but I need y'all to be specific when I ask, Who? What do you want me to do?! THEN ****I'll figure things out. and I'll edit Chapter 3 when I get the chance...**

**So I'm putting Carver in this chapter because I think that even HE deserves some Tessie daughter lllllooovvveee~...**

**I DO need to work on my scenery, because I'm not very good at it...But y'know, whatever..:)**

**Let me know if you think that something doesn't fit in this chapter, PM me and I'll see what I can do :)!**

**Vote!**

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**AND LEAVE LONG, SPECIFIC REVIEWS AND PM's! and criticism is welcome, but just go easy. I'm REAL sensitive when it comes to this.**

**Plania, thanks for announcing my grammar mistakes, I hope they're better in this chapter...I'll TRY to be more careful in this one. **

**I DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD! **

**YOLO!**

* * *

_Diary,_

_So, a couple of days have passed since the newcomers arrived, and things have been going along smoothly. The group don't have much weight to pull, but whatever they can do helps..._

_I've gotten to know everyone a little better..._

_Luke's a leader, like me, but he has WAY less people than I do. Lucky bastard, he has to take care of...seven, SEVEN! people while Dad and I have to care for over nearly 93 survivors, including Luke and the rest of the newcomers...He hasn't talked to me about his family or past, but I can't blame him. There's some things even I don't wanna talk about. I hope he realizes that he can open up to me, then we'll get along greater than we have been over the past few days...if possible._

_Nick...I don't know much about him, except I'm assuming that he apparently likes the video game "Halo", as he wears a cap with a reference on it. I haven't asked him about it, but I will soon. He has major anger issues and usually gets into arguments with his uncle, Pete. Occasionally he'll snap at Marie, but that's it. But here's the thing; if you look past all of that, You'll see a very sweet guy that just needs support every now and again..I've noticed lately that Nick's father isn't here...__I'm planning to talk to him about that, and I won't let him __push me away like he does to everyone else...I'll make sure of it. I just want him to know that I care for him and I'll be there to support him._

_Rebecca has a temper, but she's not so bad once you get to know her a little bit. Her story; Her Dad was a mean guy, always gave her shit...makes me feel bad, because my Dad never gave me shit. I envy Rebecca because of her relationship with her husband, Alvin. I like how they remark on each other and...God...I wish I could like someone like that...Dad obviously thinks that she's amazing, because I caught him staring at her ass the other day, and he fucking started to FLIRT with her! Mom got a little upset, and she still is. I sometimes hear her and Dad arguing over it. It's not like I want to say it, but Mom needs to learn to accept Dad's 'needs' when it comes to a woman in his life...whoa! Wait a fucking minute...WHAT THE FUCK AM I SAYING!? Rebecca's a married woman! I mean, it doesn't hurt to flirt a little bit, but STILL! I'm pissed at Dad, though. He really shouldn't have done that, especially in front of my Mother! _

_Alvin's a nice guy. It's amazing how kind he is. He offered to take one of my night shifts last night! and the thing is, he's pretty much the opposite of Bec! Oh, well. opposites attract, I guess...Still, like I said...what a sweet guy!_

_Carlos was a doctor before, so he'll be a great asset to the camp. Nobody's been hurt yet, Thank God, but it's good that we have an extra medically experienced person in this place! He has a daughter named Sarah. She's a sweet girl, but there's something about her that makes me want to...protect her. She seems to suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder whenever she gets nervous...I'm assuming this is why Carlos doesn't want her to be exposed to this shitty world we all live in...I understand. If I had a kid, then I wouldn't want her or him to go out unprotected...I don't want to say it, but Sarah needs to learn how to defend herself or else she'll...nevermind...Anyway, that's Carlos's choice. Speaking of which, Carlos was kind enough to offer to teach me his medical knowledge! Cool, right? I don't think that Dad and Carlos get along very well, because I always catch them glaring at each other, or when Dad's not looking Carlos will glare at his back, or it's the other way around. I just hope that they'll make peace with each other..._

_Marie, Nick's mom, is a kind woman. She insists that Nick got his temper from her, but I'll believe THAT when I see it. She gets along with my Mom, and that makes her even more of a second mother to me. _

_Pete...God...He's a very funny guy! He kind of reminds me of Mom; They can read people like an open book. Pete likes to call it his "Bullshit detector". He's also very honest when it comes to the reality of the world, which I find kind of inspiring. I haven't met anyone that's so...Serious yet so kind._

_...Tonight is Campfire Night, meaning that I have to play my guitar and sing in front of the campfire in the late hours of night. Late, meaning that the time Campfire Night starts has to be at least Ten-Thirty, and it ends at about...um, I think One-or Three o'clock in the damn morning! Hopefully mom and dad will let the whole camp sleep in. I doubt it because, hell, we've already missed Laundry Day! _

_But, Diary, I really don't want to sing for some reason..._

_It's 9-Thirty now (Thank GOD for the new clock Dad had found for me!), so I have an hour to get my head cleared..._

_I think I'll go lie down now. I'll write you later, diary..._

_-Tess Lisa Carver_

* * *

I put down my pen and skimmed over the entry I had just made. I sat at a small, very small, desk. It was no larger than a small cooler, and it was the best I could get for a 'desk'. An oil lantern gave off little, but enough light for me to write or read in the dark. There was no chairs in my medium-sized tent, so I had to sit down on the tent floor to write and do other things, like look at maps or just tap my fingers in boredom.

My diary was a small worn hard cover black leather notebook with a buckle on it. It was pretty old; the pages that I did and didn't write in were torn and yellow from age, but still intact and good to write in. The cover was ripped in some places and crippled to shit, but that was considered _'Pretty GOOOOD'_ condition...Pfft, 'good condition' my ass...

It was a piece of shit, but I couldn't just throw it away. It's over 90 years old, pretty ancient. This diary used to be my Great-grandfather's, Papa Murray's. He was my mother's grandfather. He gave it to me on his deathbed 12 years ago...I was about 11 years old. Papa never wrote in it, just kept it for show. To be honest, I never thought I'd be writing in that piece of crap now...I used to always think that it was nothing to me, but as I grew up and matured, I came to realize that this diary...It's all I have left of Papa...

I closed the diary and held it to my chest, closing my eyes as I thought of Papa. He was a kind-hearted man...gentle and so humble. The nicest man in the world, in my opinion.

I sniffled and put the diary back down on the makeshift desk.

_Alright, Tess. Don't milk it._

Then I stood up to go to my cot. I needed to lie down...I walked toward the cot and laid down on it, turning on my side in an attempt to get comfortable, wrapping my slender arms around my middle. My tired eyes gazed out of the tent window at the night's sky, smiling at the beauty I saw. Tonight was so...pretty. Millions of stars, all of them shining bright in the pitch black sky with their mother; The Moon. It was full, free, and glowing, lighting up the world with it's glazing white beauty. Guess we won't need a fire tonight...Hehe.

Turning over onto my back, I looked up blankly at the tent ceiling. It was blank and green, the color of the forest. My eyes traced the drawings that Sarah had colored for me, they were hanging from the ceiling on threads. I smiled; She was a sweet kid. Though at 15 years old, Sarah wasn't as mature as a teenager was supposed to be. Instead, she had the innocence of a toddler, depending on the adults to protect her...something I can do every day. She's a little ball of sunshine in this cruel world.

I looked down at my wrist; I was absentmindedly brushing my fingers on the bracelet that Sarah had given me, touching the colored beads. This was a token of our friendship...

"God..." I muttered, sitting up and clenching my hands into fists. I rubbed my eyes with them. This whole damn Apocalypse is starting to take it's toll on me...Ironic, huh?

"Hey, Tessie! You awake, Darlin'?" My Dad called, poking his head through the tent flaps. Damn it, I really need to close that thing! Dad always has to barge in, doesn't he!

I looked up to see his face in the dark, his small smile illuminating the small light in the oil lamp. Shit, forgot to turn that damn thing off. I need to save that oil!

"You wanna come out here and walk with me? It's Campfire Night."

I turned my face away from him. I was still a little pissed at him for flirting with Rebecca in front of mom.

He stepped closer to me, "Darlin'," He said, his smile slowly fading when I looked at him with a glare. "I know you're mad, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, especially with Coleen around. I'm sorry..."

I didn't look at him; just kept my head turned away. I heard Dad sigh quietly.

Then I suddenly felt his hand on my shoulder, which made me jump slightly at the contact. My head whipped around to see Dad sitting right next to me on the cot, frowning at me.

I rolled my eyes and roughly brushed his hand off of my shoulder with a scoff.

"...You know Mom hates that...You flirting with other women. You really think that I'm just going to let it go that easily?" I said coldly with a glare, crossing my arms.

"I-I know, Tess...and I'm sorry." He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder tightly, so I couldn't move away. It worked, because when I tried to pull away from his grasp, his grip was like iron. Sighing, I bent my head down, letting my hair be a curtain between Dad and I. Mom's a little broken up because of him; and I'm not let it go away that easily. When I hold a grudge, I hold it for a very long time.

"Tess..."

Was he going to keep on apologizing? because I'm not going to be putting up with it for much longer!

"Alright, FINE!" I forcibly said, glaring at Dad, cutting him off from saying anything else. "I get it now, okay?! I forgive you!"

No, I didn't.

His smile came back, but more relieved, and he patted my shoulder. "That's my girl." He said, standing up. "Now come on and walk with me. I want to hear your pretty voice sing." Dad held out his hand for me to take, waiting patiently.

I lightened my glare at him, thinking for a moment. Then, with a small sigh, I took a hold of his hand and let him pull me off of the cot onto my feet. I stood beside him, not looking at his face. Instead of worrying about it, Dad chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder again. This time I just let him. There wasn't any point in arguing with my Dad when he wanted something; Just like now, and that _something _was getting me to join Campfire Night. Oh well, I'll just deal with him in the morning...late morning. I'm too tired for this shit.

What a stubborn ass...

Wait a minute...

Huh, guess who I get my personality from? Hehe, Sure as hell ain't Mom!

I let him lead me toward the tent flaps, but then I had remembered something. I pulled away from him, earning an eyebrow raise in question.

"I just need to get something first, Dad. Go on ahead, I'll just be a minute." I said, impatiently gesturing for him to get out.

After a moment of silence, Dad nodded slowly with a suspicious look on his features. Then without another word, he walked out of the tent. I had a feeling that he suddenly didn't trust me. I shrugged it off, thinking that it was probably nothing.

I grabbed my brown sweat jacket that was strewn on my bed, 'cause Mom said that it would be chilly tonight, and slid it on. I looked around the tent, checking if there was anything I needed to do, but found nothing. I walked over to my desk and stared at my diary for a moment before picking it up and putting it in my bag, then I blew out the oil lamp that was still burning.

Satisfied, I walked out of my tent and zipped the flaps together, closing them shut. when that was done, I turned around to see Dad's fading form as he walked toward the campsite. I smiled to myself and walked after him at a fast pace. I was surprised how quickly my mood had changed, from angry and hateful to happy and calm. Well, I DID say I was going to deal with him in the morning...might as well make tonight last.

* * *

**Okay, This is only Part 1, Poppies! Don't kill meh XD**

**I know that this probably wasn't what you guys wanted, but I hope you guys like it anyways!**

**and Plania, I hope I improved on my scenery at least by 1%...Thanks for the help!**

**Remember, NICE LONG AND SPECIFIC REVIEWS! I expect it from all of you, Popstars!**

**Now, in your LONG, SPECIFIC reviews, I want you guys to tell me...**

**What song(s) should Tess sing? You all have a limit of 3 songs to choose from. Good luck!**

**7+ REVIEWS for PART 2!**

**Love you, Poppies!**

**-Celie**


	6. Sound of Music (Part 2)

**Hello! Celebrityfan here!**

**So as you all know and some DON'T know, this is actually the 2nd part of Chapter 5: Sound of Music. 'Nuff said.**

**Sorry if I seemed rude or anything in the last chapter...I'm just busting my Butt for you guys and I was kinda having a bad day, soooo yeah. Sorry.**

**Thanks for reviewing, I REALLY appreciate it! Keep it up, Poppies!**

**Love you, Popstars!**

**I DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD!**

* * *

_**Recap:**_

_**Might as well make tonight last...**_

* * *

I caught up with my Dad and kept pace with him as we walked closer to the middle of camp; where the majority of the people in our camp sat in their chairs or standing up by the campfire, chattering among themselves as they awaited my arrival with Dad, drinking beers and such.

Dammit...I had actually hoped that we wouldn't have started any fires tonight! The moon kept the night lit, and our coats and jackets kept our bodies warm enough. Oh, well...

I looked around, searching through the groups of people to find some new yet so familiar faces, trying to keep my gaze from meeting Dad's the best I could with his arm now around my shoulder.

Dad's gravelly voice sounded throughout my ears, breaking the comfortable yet slightly tense silence around us. "Sweetie?" He asked, his tone clear and slightly stern, as if he wanted me to do something. I noticed that we were walking at a much slower pace. Uh oh, he wanted to talk...What did I do now?

I turned my head up to look into his hazel brown eyes that were identical to mine. I asked, "Yes?"

"Do you think Luke is a good man?" He asked, arching an eyebrow at me. I looked up at him, surprised. What the...?

"Yeah...his whole group is cool...Why?" I asked, dipping my head down. This was all so very sudden...

Dad glanced at me, taking in my downed gaze. He was silent for a moment as he looked down at me.

"Just wondering, Tessie." He said quietly, averting his gaze back to the path we were walking. I didn't believe him, I think he was hiding something...but I let it drop. Like I said before, I was tired as shit and I just wanted to get Campfire Night over with.

As we grew nearer, I saw Luke and his group sitting by a fire pit, talking to each other. Luke saw me and he smiled lightly. I smiled back and waved at him then without my dad noticing. Unfortunately he did see my little wave, and he looked over at Luke and glared lightly at him, causing Luke to look away with a frown. I gritted my teeth and pulled away from Dad's arm. My friendship with Luke and his group was MY business, not HIS!

Ugh..

"Dad, Can't you just leave him be? He hasn't done anything!" I complained as he picked up an acoustic guitar and handed it to me.

He shook his head, "Not yet, he hasn't. That boy is bad news." He said, walking to the fire pit.

"You think every boy is bad news.." I shot back, glaring at his back.

"Hey," Dad said sternly, "I'm just trying to protect you from getting hurt...You know what happened to-"

I cut him off. "DON'T YOU..!" I cut myself off and started to talk in a lighter tone, "Yes, I know what happened...just don't fucking talk about it."

Dad looked at me. He asked me, "Do you trust them?"

I blinked in surprise...What...?

"What the hell are you talking about?" I snapped, crossing my arms with the guitar in hand.

Dad ignored my remark and crossed his arms. "Do they trust YOU?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I actually blinked in surprise this time. DID they trust me...?

"What are you getting at?" I asked suspiciously, keeping my arms crossed.

"If people don't trust you, how can you trust THEM?" He said almost smugly.

He had a good point there, there's no denying it...

I gave up and uncrossed my arms. "I'll keep that in mind..." I replied, keeping my poker face on.

Dad-I could've sworn he smirked!- nodded and led me to the fire pit without another word. I followed him in silence, not in the mood for a fight.

"Hey, Everyone!" Dad greeted as we approached the inner circle, where I usually performed.

Everyone greeted him back with some shouts, some waves, or some plain raising of their beers and waters in greeting. I sat in a chair to position myself for the show and to use the guitar correctly.

"As you all know...We have some new ducks to join the flock, they should be here tonight to join us on this wonderful tradition we all like to call Campfire Night." Dad said to the camp. I smiled to our newcomers. It was a pleasure to perform for our new people.

"So here's how it goes; every other week on Tuesdays and Sundays we all gather here around the campfire to sing some songs my daughter will play and sing for you. Kind of like a concert. She takes your requests, just nothing too extreme. She's only one girl." Dad explained to the newcomers.

As he talked, I spotted Nick staring at me. I playfully winked at him with a suggestive smirk on my face. He realized that he was caught and looked away with lightly flushed cheeks. I covered my mouth with my hand to cover up my giggle.

"So now, Tess will choose the first song and after that she'll take requests. Now, we still have about..." He checked his watch "...ten minutes until we start, so kick back and relax while Tess prepares. Here's the request sheet," He gestured behind him as I held up a clipboard with a pen attached to it "So y'all can come up here now and fill it in for her to play. Remember though...Only one song per person. Some songs Tess will do, and some she won't..." Dad turned around to give me an encouraging smile as he said, "and Tess DOES like a challenge."

I smiled mischievously at him . That was something he knew I loved; a challenge. I liked to test myself on hard guitar songs. I used to take guitar lessons back home, and trust me when I say,

THEY ARE HARD! But eventually my level rose up to Professional guitarist, and my lessons were over. It was hard, but it was also pretty fun.

Dad smiled and sat down in a chair as a few campers stood up and walked up to fill out the request sheet. I laughed and shook my head at the people's excitement.

* * *

As I waited, I watched as Nick walk up to the request sheet, taking a hold of the pen and scribbling his desired song onto the paper. I caught his gaze and he smiled shyly at me as he walked away. I blinked in surprise at first, then I let the corner of my mouth twitch upwards. Wow...Nick had a nice smile...-NO, TESS! BAD GIRL! DON'T GET DRAWN TO HIS GOOD LOOKS!

After a few minutes, I picked up the clipboard and skimmed over the page. I had already chosen my own song to sing, so I was trying to decide on which songs to sing after that...

"Alright, everyone!" Dad said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Let's get settled in, now! I think Tess has chosen her song!"

I faked a smile at everyone I saw. I suddenly felt...sick...

.

_'It's nothing, Tess. You're just nervous._..' I thought to myself, attempting to calm the feeling in my stomach. I shook it all off.

Sighing lightly, I picked up the guitar and began to tune it,. This was gonna be a long night...

* * *

**SOOOOOO...YAASSS!**

**I lied; There's actually a 3rd part to this! :D**

**Wow, and a day before April Fool's Day! XD**

**Sorry for the late update, I just had a bit of writer's block, and I REAAALLLY needed a break, soooo...YAS.**

**Also, sorry if this chapter was..."Bleck..." You know... WRITER'S BLOCK! DX**

**But I love you guys, and that kept me going...**

**Thanks for the 35 reviews! we'll need to do better next time; we needed 2 MORE. Well, next time is your final chance. REMEMBER THE DEAL, PEOPLE!**

**So, anyway, do drop a nice, long review in the crotch, Vote...all that kind of stuff! :3**

**See ya, Poppies!**

**I'll be a little bit easier on you guys with the reviewing, soooo... (*Drumroll*)**

**5+ REVIEWS TO CONTINUE! **

**Does that make you happy? :D**

**-Celie**


	7. Take Us Back

**Hello! Celie here! Yes, This is the 3rd part of the chapter: SOUND OF MUSIC! In this chapter, Tess will be singing some songs that people have voted on in the old poll (*NOW CLOSED*)...IN ORDER! Just edited, i probably shouldn't have put Chuck there XD**

**First, she will sing the most voted song.**

**Then the second most voted song.**

**Finally, She will sing the least voted song.**

**AND THEN, She'll sing Nick's request...XD I'm a sap for him, I'm not even KIDDING! (Hahahahaha-*SHOT*)**

**Anyway, I don't own THE WALKING DEAD MASTERPIECE! Telltale games does! I only own my OC's!**

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

I strummed the guitar with a small sad look on my face. I didn't have to look up to see everyone staring at me in anticipation...But I wasn't bothered or intimidated; It was something I was rather used to.

I breathed in, closing my eyes.

Then, just at the right moment, I opened my mouth with the words flowing from my lips.

_"The tops of crags and cliffs, the air is thin_

_So we'll find a mountain path on down the hill_

_Meet me where the snowmelt flows..._

_It is there, my dear, where we'll begin again..._

_Skipping stones, braiding hair_

_Last year's antlers mark the trail..."_

* * *

I opened my eyes and focused on the guitar as I tapped my foot to a steady tempo. Then my voice rose to a slightly higher volume.

* * *

_"Take Us Back, oh take us back_

_Oh take us back, take us back_

_Take us back, oh take us back_

_Oh take us, take us back..."_

* * *

I had the hang of this tune, so I looked up at everyone's hopeful gazes. The ones who knew the song by heart had started to clap steadily to the tempo of the song.

As I looked upon these people, I saw the impressed faces of the newcomers...including Luke's...

As I sang the next verse, I could feel a lump rise in my throat.

* * *

_"I've a friend who lives out by the river's mouth,_

_He knows the fiddle's cry is an old sound._

_A lonesome bow,_

_The creaks and moans of empty houses are songs like fallen rain._

_Windblown buildings, muddy grounds..._

_The strength of water can sink a man..."_

* * *

Tears started to fill my eyes, blocking my vision.

Why?

Because I could feel the emotion in this song...

Because this song is describing what the world has become.

Because...I had a friend who knew how to play a guitar like the back of his hand...

I sang the chorus with much more emotion in my voice.

* * *

_"Take us back, oh take us back,_

_Oh, take us back, take us back_

_Take us back, oh take us back_

_Oh take us, take us back..."_

* * *

The tears that had refused to flow down my cheeks finally ran down my face slowly. This song somewhat gave me a feeling of hope...

I closed my eyes and quietly sniffled, drawing in a breath and playing the last tunes.

* * *

_"When the higher hills have turned blue,_

_And the waves lapping where children the grew_

_All we have known will be an echo_

_Of days when love was true_

_Muted voices just beyond_

_The silent surface of what has gone..."_

* * *

As I finished the last tune, there was a long pause. I couldn't look up at anyone; not with the tears that were in my eyes and running down my face.

I lifted my hand to wipe the salty water off of my face.

Claps suddenly rang out throughout the silence, breaking the ice.

I lifted my head this time to see everyone smiling and clapping, some including my mother were in tears, some in sniffles. Dad gave me a proud smile. I smiled to everyone, relishing this moment.

"Thank you, everyone...thanks..." I said, my tears now gone.

"Wasn't she just wonderful?" I heard my mother ask in her own tears to random people.

My dad praised me with that proud smile of his, "Good job, Tessie." He said.

I spotted Luke. He was clapping with that charming smile of his, his brown eyes shining.

I smiled back at him, wanting to wave but I didn't. The reason why was because of the dirty looks Dad kept on giving him.

*Sigh*...Typical Dad...Not always so 'trusting' when it came to boys coming near his daughter.

Figures...

* * *

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! FAHK! I'M SUCH A BAD AUTHOR! I'm so lazyyyyy...Yolo!**

**...**

**Yas...**

**I love you guys! **

**44 REVIEWS!? YOU ARE AMAZING! I mean, you guys are SO generous ;A;**

**Weeeeellllllllllllll,**

**In that case, I'll increase it a little to about 9 reviews?**

**Don't worry, there'll be moar to come!**

**Sorry it was so short...**

**Hopefully my lazy ass will get over itself and write MOAR WORDS!**

**Also, there's gonna be a new poll, so yah.**

**And I'm gonna make an Ed Edd and Eddy story, KK? KK.**

**See ya, Popstars!**

**-Celie**


	8. Stupid fathers

**Whew! What a long break! HAPPY LATE EASTER, EVERYONE! :D**

**I feel refreshed, so let's get to it!**

**Wait a minute, though...**

**You know, guys, I'm really happy with the reviews and the views you've been giving me. You guys don't know how much it keeps me going...**

**ANYWAY!**

**I don't own the Walking Dead, just Tess!**

* * *

I smiled at the newcomers and the people around me. It was nice to know that so many people liked to hear my voice.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes, tired after all that emotion. Singing can take a lot out of you, even if it's just one.

"Well, Folks, I think Tess is rather tired for another song, don'cha think?" Dad suddenly announced, standing up from his lawn chair. I attempted to say that I wasn't tired at all, but Dad cut me off.

"I think we all need some shut-eye. It's been a long day for all of us. Come on, Honey." He said, and I found myself being dragged from my seat with the guitar still in my hand, and as I was being dragged away, I caught the disappointed look on Nick's face. His cap covered his eyes, but I saw it. I couldn't help but feel bad...

Why did Dad have to RUIN EVERYTHING!? I PLAYED ONE SONG!

I kept silent until we were in front of my tent. That's when I jerked my arm out of his grasp.

"What is your problem, Dad!?" I exclaimed, shoving the guitar into his hands. He stumbled in surprise, not expecting this kind of behavior.

"Child, you better stop-" He started to warn me, but I cut him off.

"NO! I won't stop! You've been on my case ever since Luke started hanging with me! Why won't you leave him alone!?" I protested, walking past him to get into my tent.

Dad replied back with the most serious tone I've ever heard,

"Because he's just like Toby."

I stopped in my tracks, taking in what he'd just said. He...Dad-he did NOT just...

OH HEELLLL NO!

"What did you just say?" I asked very quietly, turning my head to look at my father, who looked like he thought he won the game.

"You heard me, Tess."

I clenched and unclenched my hands into fists, fighting the urge to punch the shit out of the man.

"You don't know that...", I whispered, "You don't know _anything..._" Tears made their way to my hazel eyes, and I bit my lip to hold them back. I knew one thing; the moon... It gave it all away. The brightness of the full circle of the white pearl above caught my glistening eyes, giving Dad the pleasure of seeing my weakness.

"Yes...I do." Dad replied, and with that he stalked off stiffly.

That mother-

He ruined Campfire night for me, took my chance away of playing more than one challenging song...

**Sooooo...yeah. Sorry for the extremely short chapter...I was being lazy this week. There was a dance tonight-or at least there was SUPPOSED to be a dance for my school- and it got CANCELLED! Well, it was actually postponed to May 9...oh, well...gives me plenty of time to practice my MJ dance moves! YAY! :D I got loafers today! :DDDD YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!**

* * *

**So yeah review, Popstars!**

**I love you!**

**6+ reviews for next chappie!**


	9. Tobias

**Okay, so the last chapter sucked... :( But hopefully this one will be MUCH better! I OWN TESS! NO ONE ELSE!**

* * *

**Tess's p.o.v**

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly rejuvenated. I sat up, glancing at my clock. 6:38 am. Good. Not bad at all...

I silently stood up and rubbed my eyes, recalling last night's small but heated argument with my Dad.

My feeling of freshness was replaced with anger under a moment and a half. I stomped my foot in frustration. "Ugh! Stupid!" I wasn't finished with that man!

A small knock came from the front of my tent, interrupting my evil plans.

I turned my head in surprise to the source of the sound. Who would be up at this time besides my parents? and why was...oh, I have my tent poles, teehee. Stupid me.

_Please don't let it be Dad...please...Well, he wouldn't knock or anything...Maybe last night got to him and now he's learning his manners..._

I made sure I had my knife with me as I crept toward the tent flaps. I took it out of my boot and prepared to attack as I unzipped the tent 'door'.

When I opened it, I was relieved to see Nick's face kneeling in front of my tent, not my Father's. His face was formed in a frown and his baby blues held a small hint of disappointment. I pretended not to show the remorse I had for not singing his request last night. It must've really bummed him out.

"Um...Hi..." He said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Um...Can I come in? It's kinda cold out here."

I nodded and moved to let him in, despite the funny feeling in my chest. His face turned into one of surprise when he saw the inside of my 'room'.

"Nice place..." He complimented, standing up to walk around. Though he had to bend his knees to walk to my cot.

"Thanks..." I replied. I zipped the 'door' and turned to him. "Why'd you come here?" I suddenly asked, tilting my head in confusion as I put my knife away.

Nick's face turned a little red and he looked away from me. "I was really hoping you would've sung my request last night..." His tone had a sad kind of undertone to it, making me feel worse. "But really, it's no big deal. You were tired. I guess we were all tired last night."

My fingers tapped against my knees in rhythm as a few awkward moments of silence passed. I finally decided to break the ice.

"Well, next time on Campfire Night, I'll sing it. How's that?" I said, watching his reaction. His face light up, "Really? You would do that?"

"Sure! Every campfire night's a good night...with the exception of last night." I grumbled at the thought of my father. Nick nodded in agreement. I stood up and walked over to his side and sat down beside him.

"I'm sorry about my father. He gets...overprotective..." I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked at me, ignoring the sign of comfort I was giving him.

"..Why?...Tess...?"

I looked down at my lap, feeling the tears in my eyes.

"C-can you keep a secret?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from cracking. I didn't like to show weakness in front of anyone. I didn't usually open up either, but something told me I could trust this man.

Nick covered the hand that was on his shoulder with his own, taking it in his own. "Sure I can...you can tell me anything."

I couldn't help but smile at the sudden protective look in his eyes and the way he said it. It was gentle, yet serious.

"Well", I said, "I had someone special before the apocalypse started. His name was Tobias. He liked to be called Toby, and ONLY Toby. I met him a few years before the apocalypse, and we hit it off...then the infection spread, and..." I trailed off, a tear leaking out of the corner of my eye and rolling down my cheek. I wiped it, sniffling. Nick was waiting patiently, rubbing my hand with his thumb. I continued,

"...and after a few months he...sort of transformed...His personality changed and we got into arguments. One day our argument went to far and we attracted Walkers. A lot of them. We were in a pharmacy looking for supplies, so we were trapped. We got cornered and Toby...T-he pushed me into the horde and ran off. Dad was at the entrance, and he saw Toby push me. I was running, running, running...I almost got scratched, torn up. But Dad shot almost all of 'em. Dad and I just...we ran too, and I remember Toby being stupid to come back to camp the next month or so, and Dad took him to the 'room'..."

Nick's eyes widened. "What's the 'room'?" He asked quietly, being gentle about this whole thing.

I hiccupped and choked out, "It's a room where Dad tortures the people who betrays us..." I said, "Dad tortured him for hours, until finally he unleashed a walker into the room with Toby strapped to the chair..." I covered my mouth, stifling any kind of noise I was making.

"Damn..." Nick whispered, squeezing my hand.

I continued with the last part of the story. "A few hours later, I found Toby dead on the floor with his stomach ripped open...The walker was still munching on him and I killed it. The moment I did, Toby turned and he...it tried to bite me. But he didn't...I killed him too."

"Ever since he died, I feel like I can't trust anyone...That's why Dad's been so protective..."

Nick wrapped his arm around my shoulder and silently, slowly brought me into a side hug as I kept my tears in. I stiffened for a moment but I let loose and buried my face into his neck, letting him comfort me.

"...My Dad was never around", Nick said, surprising me. "Mom always took care of me while he was off either drinking his ass off or playing around with some waitress at the bar. He wasn't hardly around, but when he was a piece of shit whenever he was. I don't know where he is now, but I'm hoping he's dead."

I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around his torso hoping to give him the same amount of comfort. "I'm sorry..." I whispered, sniffling. I felt wetness on my neck, and I knew it was tears. Nick was finally opening up to me, and I him. It felt...nice.

We stayed in that embrace for what seemed like an eternity before he pulled away, staring into my eyes, blue mating with Hazel.

I didn't move when he started to slowly lean in...

* * *

**Weellllll...This was quite an interesting chappie, huh? Huh!? HUH!? (LOL)**

**Bite, bite, sip, sip, Deep deep dish, combo wombo, for LUNCH!**

**Should they kiss...**

**Or NAW?!**

**Hehehe!**

**4+ Reviews for next chapter! Hehe!**

**Love you, Popstars!**

**-Celie**


	10. Conflicted feelings

**Well...Last chapter escalated quickly, huh? Teehee! **

**Are y'all ready fo this!? YAASS! I DON'T OWN TWD!**

**FLUFFY FLUFFINESS! **

* * *

The first thing that came into my mind was,

_"What...?!"_

Before I knew it, my lips were pressed to Nick's in a gentle waltz. I tensed, I didn't like this...but at the same time I felt like I was soaring, but there was a feeling in my chest that told me to stop.

_'Stop, Tess...This is wrong...You don't want him to-'_

Leave me alone, self. I'm having a moment.

I felt his hand tighten around mine, and I climbed into Nick's lap, not letting our lips tear apart. My free hand drifted to the skin of his cheekbone, lightly stroking it with gentle skin. Our lips moved in sync, and I felt something touch my bottom lip. I pulled away, frowning.

Nick blinked, not realizing what had happened. Then he looked up at my face.

"What's wrong, Tess?" He asked.

I shook my head, unable to speak. I couldn't believe I just...God, what have I done?

"Nothing...I just..."

Nick gently pushed me off of his lap and stood up. "Nah, it's okay...I understand. You don't want to betray Toby." He said, not looking at me.

I sat there in silence. I knew he was right; I DIDN'T want to betray Toby...but Toby was a monster...Nick wouldn't do that, would he?

"I think we can make it work." I stated, crossing my arms. Nick looked at me, and smiled. I gave him a smile back.

I don't know why, but I really think...I like him.

"Yeah...I do too." Nick said, sitting back down next to me. I chuckled and checked my clock. Quarter to 7. I still have time, but Dad should already be up...

"Dad should be up by now, so if you don't wanna be caught, I suggest you go back to your tent." I told him with my smile. Nick nodded and stood up.

Before he exited, Nick looked over his shoulder at me.

"Ya know, you're really something, Tess." He said, then he left, leaving me alone in my tent.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Toby had said that once...

I rubbed my eyes and sniffed, recalling the good times with him.

I stood up and walked toward my diary. This moment was totally going on paper before I did ANY work today.

* * *

**SHORT CHAPTER AGAIN OMG!**

**I'm BAD, I'm BAD! YOU KNOW IT, I'M BAD!**

**Sorry, I just got my new Michael Jackson CD today! YAY! :D**

**So anyway, drop a request for moments (Be specific: Fights with Mum, Dad, Luke, etc. Fluffy moments, etc.) I'm running out of ideas...**

**MOAR WORDS LATER, I PROMISE! BETTER CHAPTERS!**

**(BTW, Just updated Best of Joy! Read that and comment on those super-long 2 chapters PLZ! show da love and support!)**

**7+ Reviews for next chapter!**

**Love you, Popstars!**

**-Celie**


	11. One moment of freedom

**So, last chapter sucked... -.- Stupid Me...**

**My new stories: Best of Joy, Celie Jackson, Erin Ramirez, Always and Forever...**

**They've been out for a while now, and I would appreciate it if y'all would review on them, PM me about it, and comment specific details about the stories that I am working on as well as this one. I'm just trying to get some support and I REALLY need your help! All of my stories (Except this one and 'Tess Carver') have no more than ONE review! Please Popstars, HELP mEEEEEEE!**

**Oh, and remember the deal about the reviews? Hm? Well, I asked for...what was it...seven or more reviews, I think...Hmph. I hope you guys can do better...I KNOW YOU CAN! MWAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**

**Ahem...**

**So, Tess and Nick kinda 'kissed' in the last chappie! What will happen in this one? 0.o We will NEVER know...Just kidding! Here it is, Popstars! **

**Sha'MONE!**

* * *

_Hey, It's Tess._

_Diary, You'll NEVER guess what the hell happened just now! Nick and I...we sort of...y'know...KISSED! I don't know why I'm acting like such a fan girl paparazzi...God..._

_I can't remember the last time I even thought of the word Paparazzi...It's been so long..._

_Dad's been really protective lately. Last night, I caught him giving Luke a dirty look! And I see him with Rebecca more often than not. They're almost always together, talking and laughing...I think Alvin wants to kill Dad, the way I see it. Mom's been pretty angry too. She tries so hard not to show it, but I can see it; It's all in her eyes. Luke's actually been staring at me quite a bit these past few days. I think he's a nice man-I mean, he can't be THAT bad, right? _

_..._

_Naw, didn't think so._

_But Dad seems to think otherwise..._

_Sorry to cut this short, but I have to get to work on my chores or Dad will have my hide._

_-T.L.C._

* * *

I closed my diary and made sure to hide it under my bed in the 'secret spot'. Where is it, you're probably wondering? I'll NEVER TELL!

You could never be too careful with Dad all up in my business.

I exited my tent into the cool morning air and yawned, groaning when I felt something pop in my shoulder. I sighed and stretched, feeling my bones pop in various parts of my body.

As I stretched to my toes, I looked behind me in between my legs-

"BOO!"

I shrieked and flipped over onto my feet, my body in a defensive stance. I was ready!

But I instantly felt embarrassed when I recognized the platinum blonde hair, Yellow-orange bandanna, and petite body laughing her heart out.

_"MOTHER!" _I shouted. I could feel my cheeks burning like a Cinnamon-hot red fireball jawbreaker. Mmm...Jawbreakers...

She was doubled over, laughing as her pale face turned into a dark shade of Lobster. I crossed my arms and tried to control my rapidly beating heart. My surprise quickly turned into irritation and fright as I realized something;

_Did she see...? Please tell me she didn't see Nick exiting from my tent...PLEASE!_

I hid my Desperation with an angry face. I truly WAS irritated, though; What would Coleen Price-Formerly Carver-want at this time? (Besides chores) She would usually sneak up on me whenever she wanted to freaking tease me about something or she just wanted to see my horrified face...I hoped it was the latter.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!," I said with slightly heavy breath. "What do you want, anyway?! Why'd you sneak up on me, Huh?!"

Mom had to take a moment to finally breathe. When she did, she straightened herself and wiped her tears.

"Whoo, Nelly! That was a mighty fine face you had there, Sweetie! Hooo..." She giggled, breathing some more. I waited impatiently for an explanation. My eyebrows raised, and Mom must've caught it, because she cleared her throat and turned serious. I mentally crossed my fingers.

"I saw that boy...Nick, is that his name..."

_Awwwwww...Shiiit..._

Mom shook her head at me almost...was it disappointment...? I didn't know.

"You two...you didn't...you know...Did you?"

I gasped and put my hands on my hips, annoyed. First Dad, now her!? Well, actually I can understand the confusion...

"God, Mom! No! I've only known him for a few days! Why does it matter, anyway?" I sneered.

Mom shot back, "Don't take that tone worth me, Young lady. I was only asking! Lord knows what you two have done in there..."

I widened my eyes. Did I mention that my Mother is religious? Whenever I'm in trouble, she brings up God and Jesus and all of that mess. She grew up in a Catholic church before she met my dad...so...yeah...

"Mom, The lord didn't see anything, because Nick and I haven't done ANYTHING! We talked, that's it!" I yelled, not giving a damn whether she wanted to hear the tone or _not. _

**WHAP!**

I turned away and held my cheek in shock...as a stinging sensation was felt on my cheek...Mom had slapped me.

I looked at Mom with wide yes as she narrowed her icy blue eyes and pointed her finger at my face. "You better watch yourself, girl. I'm your Mother, and if I forbid you from seeing that boy, I'll do it, and I'll make sure your Father knows..." She warned.

My eyes widened more. She _wouldn't! _

Then her face softened and her finger lowered. "Sweetie, I'm sorry, I'm overreacting...,"

_You're STILL overreacting! Nick and I haven't slept together! Lord, please tell her that Nick and I haven't committed any sins...Bring her to her senses..._

I didn't cry; I didn't even feel it anymore. Mother didn't have a lot of strength when it came to attacks, so...

"...I'll keep this a secret, but if he breaks your heart like Toby did-Hopefully that Bastard is in Hell-, then don't come crying to me."

And with that, she walked away.

_What the hell...Why can't she just talk to me like a normal mother...Gosh, such a bipolar woman..._

I just turned around and walked away, rubbing my numb cheek. My mother wasn't usually like this. Usually we would go on walks and talk about regular stuff; Chores, Past love lives, you know, Mother-Daughter things.

But I guess she hasn't taken her pills yet...I'll have to make a self note to get some more of her pills at the pharmacy...She took pills to keep her moods under control.

One of the weirdest fights in _my _lifetime...

As I walked on top of a small Hardware store we called 'Watch Tower' (It was a part of our camp. Most of the camp was basically a downtown place where bunches of stores were built. Too bad half of it was bombed when we first arrived.) I saw the sunrise. It was so beautiful; All of the colors of Orange-red, Pink-Purple, Yellow...It mesmerized me. I froze and watched as the birds flew freely above me in the colorful sky. I envied them, wanting to just...spread my wings and fly.

A gentle breeze blew into me, and I closed my eyes to savor this moment...It was beautiful. It was a very beautiful moment. I wish I'd had a camera...

At that moment, I felt...free...

"Hey, Tess!"

My eyes snapped open and I snapped out of my Reverie as I peeked over the top of the building...

"What'cha doin' up there?"

_Oh, Boy..._

* * *

**Weellllll, Not exactly good quality, but longer than the last chapter...Way longer...I feel like Coleen is a remake of Katjaa, only without the accent XD**

**So anyway...HEED MY WARNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! If I do not see Five or more reviews on my stories, I will stop updating altogether. I'm giving you all one last chance. **

**I'm both a good and a bad author, aren't I? Teehee...Yeah, I'm evil. :D**

**SO Remember the warning!**

**PM, Review, and all that stuff! **

**Thanks to Hooray4Natasha and Fandoms for the win for giving me this idea. Without her, I probably never would've come up with this idea...Thanks, Gurls!**

**There'll probably be a Carver-Tess fight SOON! MAYBE...**

**-Celie**

**P.S.**

**Love you Popstars!**

**5+ Reviews! **


	12. Beauty of the Sunrise

**65 Reviews?! **

**Even though it's not 7+, I'm still so...happy ;A;**

**I DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD!**

* * *

It was Luke.

_Aw, nooooo. I don't need to deal with him! Not now, anyway._

I faked a smile and waved, "Um...Hey, Luke." I said, hoping that he would just take the hello and go away.

But he didn't. He kept that charming smile on his face and silently climbed up the ladder to the roof. "You don't mind if I come up, do you?" He asked, stopping at the top.

_YES. GO AWAY._

"No, not at all," I replied, that stupid fake smile stretching across my lips. "you can come up. I could use some company anyway."

_AHHHH! STUPID! STUPID! STUUUPID! NOW YOU'RE NEVER GONNA GET OUTTA HERE!_

I backed up a bit so that Luke could get up onto the rooftop with me. He stood up and looked at the sunrise, widening his eyes. I knew it was the beauty of it. It would hypnotize even the strongest-willed men.

"Wow..."

I looked at it, too. Then I said, "Yeah. It's beautiful, huh?"

Luke nodded, still slightly mesmerized. "You've got that right. Not everyday you get to see stuff like this." He told me, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. I did the same thing, smiling a little. Genuinely this time. I liked it when things were quiet like this; Peaceful, Beautiful...

It made you feel like no Lurkers or overprotective fathers could get you...

I cringed at the thought of Lurkers. What has the world come into?

Luke noticed my cringe. He put a hand on my shoulder, "Hey...Are you alright?" He asked, concern written all over his features. I didn't reply, I only nodded with my eyes closed.

"Hey," He said again, catching my attention. "I'm here whenever you need me, okay?"

I was surprised; Luke didn't seem like one to talk about stuff. He's like a closed book, from what I knew. He didn't open up to anyone at the camp except fo his group.

Just then I noticed his eyes...

They were so...brown. A chocolate color. I wanted his eyes; Mine were boring, in my opinion. I didn't like my eyes. They were my father's hazel ones. I've always wanted to look like my mother...I want her blue eyes. So sharp and icy...

Luke's were full of warmth, comfort...but I could see a hint of loneliness. What had he experienced?

I cleared my throat, breaking the small ice. I moved away from him, breaking eye contact as I averted my gaze to the gritty, dusty rooftop. I didn't want to get lost in his deep gaze.

Luke stared at me, waiting for me to say something.

I cleared my throat again, backing up to the ladder. I looked at my pretend-watch, "Oh, would you look at the time! I...um, I better get started on my chores! Dad will be angry if I don't get to work now!" I stammered, not noticing my foot nearly going over the edge.

As I took another step, Luke saw my foot. He reached out and yelled, "Tess!" just as the heel of my boot hit air. I yelped, feeling my body slipping.

* * *

**SHORT CHAPTER AGAIN! **

**Before ANYTHING, please go and check out my very dear friend ADE (AquaDestinyEmbrace)'s story, Bad Things Will Always Happen! It has Tess in it and OC of her own! It's rather great! Go check it out!**

**Now, on to the good stuff! **

**OH GOD! WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO TESSIE!? WILL SHE FALL? OR NAW!?**

**WILL LUKE BE ABLE TO CATCH HER? WHO KNOWS!? She might fall and somebody might save her...XD**

**...**

**But that's unlikely. 0.o**

**LOL! **

**Anyway, Review plz!**

**4+ reviews for the next!**

**Question and fact - ****Subject ****of the day: ****: MICHAEL JACKSON!**

**Question: How many of you like MJ and his music?**

**(This dude will be the subject for a few chapters...Teehee!)**

**Fact: He started his career in the Jackson 5 at 6 years old. (1964)**

**Love you, Popstars!**

**-Celie**


	13. Personal Therapy

**I DON'T OWN TWD!**

* * *

I felt air. I didn't even have time to react as my foot slipped over the edge of the rooftop. My did, though. I wanted to scream, I wanted to move.

But I couldn't; out of shock, I guess. But I knew that if I fell, I'd die.

A pair of strong arms grabbed my hips and pulled me to their body.

It was Luke! He had saved me! I was forever in debt. May not seem like a big deal, but I really would've died if I had fallen on the concrete ground about 18 feet below! Yeah, you surprised now!? Thank god we found a ladder long enough!

Luke pulled me to his chest, holding my head to his chest. I could feel his heart pounding like crazy, just like mine. He felt warm...

I couldn't help but just stand there, taking in what had just happened.

"Tess," Luke said in worry, pulling me away at arms length. "Are you alright!?"

I didn't answer. I _couldn't _answer. I was too...terrified. I've never felt so scared for my life since...Well, since when the world ended for the first time...It was...so...

"I-I think I'm fine..." I shakily replied, pulling away and walking toward the ladder again, more carefully this time. Luke looked at me with concern.

"Are you...sure?"

I stopped for a moment, blankly staring at the ground below me. I took a deep breath to calm my frazzled nerves and carefully climbed down the ladder. I felt bad for just leaving him alone like that, but I was in no mood to talk anymore.

I got off the ladder as soon as I was within jumping distance to the ground. I ran as fast as I could to the kitchens, seeing Leslie and Omar working on breakfast. They both smiled at me as I entered, but then faded as they saw me bent over to catch my breath. Leslie nodded at Omar, who nodded back, and let him take over as she walked over to me.

She silently helped me straighten up as we walked to the back, exiting out of the screen door to their tent. There were two cots in there; One for Leslie, one for Omar. It was pretty small, but pretty decent-sized for two people. It's weird that they sleep in the same tent, huh? Well, They're twins, fraternal or not.

After sitting me down on her cot, Leslie took my face into her hands. Then she asked me, "Child, what happened? You look like you've seen a ghost...Did you get jumped again?"

I shook my head and removed her hands to think for a moment.

"No...Les, I almost fell off of a building." I said. She covered her mouth.

"Oh, my goodness...Who saved you?"

"The newcomer, Luke...It happened so fast. My foot slipped...and I just froze. I was in shock, I guess...But as soon as it happened, Luke stepped in and grabbed me. He saved my life." I said, suddenly feeling regret for leaving Luke on the rooftop. "I would've died, Leslie! But he didn't let me die."

Leslie nodded, taking in the information. "Well, how do you feel about that?"

I thought for a moment, then suddenly I felt bile rising up in my throat. I rushed to the trash bin beside the cot and released whatever contents I had inside of my stomach into it. It had a garbage bag inside of it, so I was safe.

"Sick is obviously one of them..." Les remarked, rubbing my back as the acidic bile in my throat kept coming up.

"Ah, Fuck you..." I said, wiping my mouth. She held out something for me.

"Mint?" She asked, holding the white freshness in her palm. I widened my eyes at the delicacy.

That was a luxury!

"Oh, my God!" I exclaimed, snatching the candy from her and holding it in front of my eyes. It had been so long since I'd eaten one of those. I unwrapped it and popped it into my mouth and sucked on it, feeling it disintegrate on my tongue.

After a moment I looked at a smirking Leslie with astonished eyes. How could she have that!? You never found mints anymore!

"Where'd you get that?!" I asked, hating the fact that she had one of my most favorite candies in the world. Well, she was the camp's cook, so she and Omar needed as much food supplies as possible.

"_Found _it." She teased, smirking. I glared at her and childishly punched at her arm, hitting it with medium strength.

"I hate you." I stated, sticking my tongue out at her. Leslie did it back at me and said,

"You know you love me!"

"...Shut up."

Then we both burst out laughing. I liked moments like this; It made you feel like the real people who cared were the ones close to you. Leslie, for example. She's like my therapist and best friend all in one...I felt good; It surprised me how quickly my mood had changed. One minute I was ready to kill, the next I was laughing my head off with my personal therapist...

Gosh, I'm so weird.

* * *

**YAAS!  
SOOOOOO...Leslie's here to help Tessie-Wessie!**

**Question of the day: What do you think Nick's request was?**

**Fact: Michael Jackson had a child with an unknown surrogate mother. COUGHBLANKETCOUGH**

**3+ Reviews for next chapter! **

**-Celie**


	14. A Good Day

**DERPDERPDERP**

**I DON'T OWN TWDG!**

* * *

So after Leslie and I had our little 'talk', I went straight to my chores. I seriously needed to get them done. I kind of wanted to go apologize to Luke for leaving him, and I wanted to talk to Nick about our moment in the tent. I had feelings for him, but I just didn't know if it was...true.

A few hours later. I was in the middle of washing last night's dishes when I saw my Dad walking around, watching people work on their chores. I looked down and pretended I didn't see him as he neared me and my basin.

"Hey, honey." He said as he passed me. I only nodded and continued with the rinse cycle. I knew he was smirking. though. I could _feel _it...

Not long after, I was onto the next load of dishes. And I was so into it that I was nearly done.

Suddenly I felt my concentration break as a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and someone pecked me on the cheek. I normally would slam this person to the ground, but I was extremely relaxed for some reason. Maybe it was because of the kiss that had occurred that morning...

I looked around for my Dad when I suddenly remembered that he was off on a run with some of his buddies at the moment.

_Whew...I'm safe..._

"Hey, Tess..."

It was Nick.

He let go of my waist and moved to my side to watch me work. I was on to the last three or four...

"Are you almost done?" He asked, almost impatiently. I chuckled at him and kept on with the dishes.

But I nodded, "Yeah, why?"

He looked at me with his baby blues; they were so pretty! I gazed into them, admiring their beauty.

"Well..." He said, shyly. He licked his lips and cleared his throat, "I was wondering...If...um, I was wondering if you and I...could..."

He stopped, looking at me. I smiled to encourage him.

That seemed to boost his confidence, because he quickly blurted,

"I was wondering if we could go on a walk...o-or something, today...But you don't have to come! I mean..."

I found this incredibly cute...

I jumped forward and kissed him to shut him up before he could embarrass himself any further. What!? I was HELPING him!

We moved our lips together for a moment, ignoring everything for just a moment...

I pulled away, blushing harshly. I blushed way TOO easily whenever something like that happened.

"Of course, you dope," I whispered with a smirk. Nick's face brightened up immediately.

I pulled away from his body and realized I was done with the dishes.

"Well, I have to go and help Carlos with something, so in an hour or two, I'll meet you...where?"

Nick thought for a moment and looked around.

"Hmmm," He said. "Maybe we'll meet at your tent?"

I nodded, agreeing. "Yep! It's a date!"

Nick smiled and walked off.

I smiled to myself. Today was a good one...so far...

* * *

**Well, I guess they have a date, then! **

**Nick/Tess is coming' y'all! YAAASSS!**

**Listen, the more reviews I get, the more I update...It's 70 now, let's try to make it to 75-77 this time...-.-**

**So just type that lil' box...and press the submit...**

**I KNOW YOU GUYS CAN DO IT!**

* * *

**Question of the day: ****(THIS IS A SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ 'TESS CARVER!') ****Since Tess is gonna have a baby in the future, what should the gender and name be? The last name can either be made up or Carver...**

**Fact: Nick is a pretty shy guy when it comes to girls.**

* * *

**Love you, Popstars!**

**-Celie**


	15. Flirting

**Soooo...Nick and Tess are hittin' it off, Huh? **

**Hehe...Carver's gonna go hammers...LOLZ!**

**So I just updated Chapter 5 of Best of Joy! Go read that...and the 4 chapters before that...Just go and read it and tell me what you think in the review...so I can be very happy...I'M WORKING MY TUSH OFF FOR YOU GUYS WHEN IT COMES TO MY STORIES!**

**So in this chapter, Tess in PROBABLY gonna help Carlos with something...We'll see...And then the 'date' will probably be on...HOPEFULLY! If not, then it'll be in the next chappie.**

**Okay...continue on!**

**This chapter is probably gonna suck...**

**I don't own TWDG! **

* * *

When I finished my chores (Which really didn't take that long...), I walked around, looking for Carlos. I was supposed to help him with something if he wasn't with my father. I checked the Medical Tent, but I was almost disappointed to see my mother was standing where Carlos was supposed to be. I was curious, so I asked her,

"Mom? Where's Carlos?"

My reply was a simple "He's out with Dad." And that kind of surprised and relieved me. I wanted to get to that date with Nick right away. I happily skipped out of the tent with a stupid smile on my face.

I nearly bumped into Luke, who was walking around with his head down.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I yelped, halting my skip. He looked up and smiled.

"Hey..." He said.

I suddenly wanted to apologize...Like I had been wanting to do since that morning...

"Um..." I said, twiddling my thumbs.

He stared at me patiently, waiting for me to continue.

"I'm sorry for...leaving you there on the rooftop this morning...You saved me. I guess I was in shock..." I said, rubbing the back of my head.

Luke smirked at me, crossing his arms at me.

"Really. I could've died..." I insisted.

He nodded his head at me, that charming smirk still on his face.

"Yeah...Just couldn't let a pretty thing like you die." He said.

Wait a minute...

_Was he FLIRTING with me?!_

I blushed, and I suddenly felt bashful.

"Thanks, but shut up..." I muttered, lightly hitting him in the chest.

"Hey..." He feigned mock hurt. I only chuckled at him and walked away.

"Tess," Luke called when I was about 5 feet away. I turned around to look at him, a smirk of my own on my face.

He smiled at me and just said

"You have pretty eyes..."

...

I just rolled my eyes and kept on walking.

But Luke wouldn't let it go. He walked and caught up with my pace. Then a comfortable silence formed in the air around us.

That is, until he broke the ice.

"You know, I've had a lot of experience with girls who don't want to talk to me..."

I sighed.

Yep.

He was _definitely_ flirting.

Damn it...

So I decided to flirt back.

I smirked and twirled my braid with my fingers.

"What _kind_ of girls?" I asked in a high-pitched, snobby voice. Luke's smirk got bigger as he realized I got along with the joke.

"Y'know...the hot, giggly, blonde, _curvy, _Nice-assed, _sexy_ ones..." He wriggled his eyebrows together suggestively. I held in my giggles as he moved his hands up and down in the air in an hourglass motion.

"Am _I _one of those girls...?" I asked in the same snobby tone, this time lightly running my hands over my hips playfully, just to tease him a bit.

Luke snickered and put his hands on his hips, jokingly looking behind me to stare at my ass.

"Well, You're talking to me _now_, aren't you?" He said, gently bumping our hips together. I stumbled, not expecting him to do that.

"What the-!? HEY!" I shouted, bumping his hips back.

And then I realized that he thought I was sexy...He was joking, of course...

Right?

Soon we reached my tent. I assumed Nick was either IN the tent or somewhere else.

I turned to Luke, who was raising his eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked. What! He was looking at me weird!

"You're...What're you doing?"

I looked at my tent, and then I glanced back at him.

"I'm going into my tent, what does it look like?"

"...Nevermind..."

I chuckled at him and decided to ask/embarrass him,

"So you really think I'm sexy?" in a very suggestive tone.

His face was _priceless!_

Luke stuttered, "Uh...I-Uh! NO! I mean-"

I shook my head and laughed at myself.

"Get out of here, Dope..." I said, lightly pushing him away. He chuckled at me and walked on.

"Okay, but I'll get my revenge!" He said as he walked further into camp.

I rolled my eyes, what a dork...

I entered my tent and sat on my cot, waiting for Nick to come...

* * *

**SUCKY CHAPTER!**

**We're at 75! Try to make it to at least 80-85 Reviews, guys! **


	16. Easy to Sneak

**Hey, Popstars! I have a Poll on my profile, so you might wanna check it out! (It's somethin' SPECIAL!))**

**We're probably having the date this chapter...WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS! ME MUST! If not, You can hate me all you want...I'm kind of just making this up as I go along...**

**I DON'T OWN TWDG!**

* * *

As soon as I entered my tent, I nearly squealed.

I was so..._HAPPY!_

I decided to write in my diary about today. It had to be done!

My hands fumbled with my pen as I began writing in the diary entry.

* * *

_I'm back, Diary!_

_And you'll never BELIEVE what happened today! _

_But of course, you already know about the...kiss with Nick and I...but something else happened! Today's been a really good day;_

_1. I've only seen Dad once today! ONCE!_

_2. Dad's gonna be out most of the day (Though it seems to be a little different without Rebecca and Carlos around...They're probably gathering supplies and bringing more survivors...I'll see to it when they get back.)_

_3. I apologized to Luke today, and he accepted! Glad to get that off of my chest; He saved my life today! Then we joked around! (And let's say he's such a dope, but in a good way!)_

_4...This is the BEST part! Nick basically asked me out on a DATE! I mean, he actually just asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with him, and I DID accept! THE WAY HE SAID IT, THOUGH! (Gosh, I'm 23 and I sound like a frickin' 12-year-old at her first Justin Bieber concert...Never liked that dude...)_

_Anyway; I'm done with my assignments, so I'm good for the rest of the day...I just hope I don't get night shift..._

_On the other side of things,_

_Mom's been avoiding me ever since this morning. She saw Nick exiting my tent, and I guess because of her religious beliefs, she assumed that Nick and I had sinned. But we didn't! I mean, we did kiss a little, but NOTHING as close to having sex, honest to Christ! (Forgive me, Jesus...)_

_She slapped me...but I don't think she actually meant it. I've been thinking; I would've done the same if it was my daughter...But I hope she doesn't tell dad..._

_Well, I hope Nick gets here in time...It's mid afternoon now, and it won't be long before it gets dark...I hope I get to see the sunset..._

_But...before I go, there are some thing s that have been bugging me lately..._

_I think Dad...Likes...Rebecca...I see the way he looks at her. Whenever he looks at her, his eyes are filled with an emotion I've never seen before...it's strange...I may be overreacting, but I know what I keep on seeing now. He stares at her until she notices, and then whenever Alvin and Rebecca show their forms of affection for each other, he seems to get super pissed. Dad tries to cover it, but I can tell when he's angry...not always, but when I see the signs, I know. He can hit on her, just as long as nothing happens. I don't want Mom to get any more hurt than she already is...I want to confront him, but it seems Mom's got that covered._

_And about Tobias...Ever since he's died, I've been afraid...afraid of getting hurt again. What Toby did...was a dick move...and I just hope Nick doesn't do it, though I can't imagine him doing something like that. No way! Nick makes me feel safe and happy, though Pete once told me that he can't shoot for SHIT! Funny, huh? I'll believe that when I see it! I'll have to take him hunting or something...maybe train ourselves on Lurkers..._

_Luke's been staring at me a lot lately...He flirted with me on the way to my tent, and he basically told me he thinks I'm sexy...I want to talk to him more; y'know, to get to know each other more...We'll see..._

_God, where did the world go? It used to be so...peaceful, and so normal. Nowadays, we have to fight to survive. At least everything's free..._

_I hope things get back to normal someday. Sometimes I look back and imagine this world being normal...ish...It would be so messed up._

_I've learned that Nick's father was never there...poor guy. I'm assuming Pete was there for him...when the times were bad...I assume that because whenever they're not fighting, you can SEE the connection Nick and Pete have. It's pretty nice to have family...I wonder if Marie's found out yet, about Nick and I.._

_But Everyone's been through shit...Not just me. Sometimes I'm selfish I guess...I feel bad whenever I cry about the past., which I haven't done in a while (Not counting this morning...). Makes me feel weak. So starting now, I'm gonna become stronger, no matter what._

_I better go and get ready, Nick should be here any minute. I'll have to talk to him about my father, about what he doesn't know..._

_-Tess._

* * *

I sighed and put down my pen, resting my aching hand. I silently thanked Papa Murray for the journal. He was right; writing down my feelings really helps...

Not even a moment after I put it down, there was a knock at my tent poles. I stood up, not expecting anyone but Nick. Could be anyone, you know? People like to come to me often.

Before I could acknowledge the knocker, Nick's voice asked,

"Tess?...You there?"

Before he even finished, I was already unzipping the tent flaps in a hurry. I was _so _excited! I opened them to see Nick, who was looking rather happy to see me. I smiled at him, happy to see his face.

Gosh, he's giving me a small case of butterflies...

_AH, AH, AH! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF, TESS! _

Nick gave me a small smile and waved rather shyly. "Um, hey!" He said, coming in. I nodded my own hello as he sat on my cot.

A moment of silence followed, with the exception of the sound of me zipping the tent flaps back together.

"Nobody saw you?" I suddenly asked, just as a precaution. I didn't need my reputation and our relationship falling apart because of some rumors. Well, ones that were probably true...

He looked at me with confusion. "Um...Not that I know of..." He said with uncertainty.

After finding that out, I quietly sighed in relief and relaxed a little. But that didn't mean that my mother was probably out there...sending people out to spy on us...

I quickly shook that feeling off when I'd realized Nick had said something. I shook my head a little.

"...Sorry, um, what was that?" I asked, looking at Nick's face. He looked a little confused; Probably because of my little zone-out moment...

"I said, 'Are you ready to go?'" He replied, fumbling with his hands. I blinked, suddenly remembering our date. I'll just have to tell him later, then...But of course I nodded. "Yeah! Let's go..." I said, my chipper mood suddenly back in my system.

I fumbled with the zipper and we exited out of the tent into the warm-now turning chilly-air. (It was supposed to get cold tonight.)

As we walked, I spotted Bonnie, a red-haired woman that I was really close with and one of my Dad's associates, talking into a Walkie-talkie. I had to make sure she knew about this...without knowing about it.

"Hold on, Nick. I'll be right back..." I said, just before running over to my friend. Nick stood there for a moment before walking after me.

* * *

I slowed to a stop when I was standing behind Bonnie, with her back to me. I looked behind myself to see Nick slowly catching up as he walked at a rather slow pace.

Slow poke...

"**_Hey, Bonnie_**!" I suddenly yelled, just to get her riled.

And I did.

"HOLY...!"

She yelped and jumped, startled. She even dropped her Walkie!

Bonnie turned around to see me smirking like a mad maniac. Then she bent down to catch her breath.

"Tess..." She said in between heavy breaths, "You...scared the...daylights outta me..."

I only laughed at her misfortune. This was as hilarious as it could get. She was _very_ easy to sneak up on, especially if she was distracted

By the time she had straightened up, I was wiping a tear from my eye as I recovered from laughing so much.

"Tess! You bitch!" Bonnie yelled, lightly punching my shoulder. I chuckled and waved her off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to see you too, Bon." I said, coming off of my high. I was sure my face was a little red-Well, a lot red.

Bonnie smiled at me, and I knew I was automatically forgiven.

I smiled back, but then I turned serious.

"Bonnie, I need you to let everyone know where I am," I ordered, "Just so they don't come looking for me."

My red-headed friend just raised an eyebrow.

"...Alright...I'm talking to Troy right now. Where ARE you going?" She asked, putting a hand to her hip. Then her blue-eyes gazed behind me. "And who's THAT?"

_SHIT. She found Nick. Oh, well...Might as well make some friends..._

* * *

**God...You guys can hate me all you want, but the date WILL GO ON IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, I FRIGGIN PROMISE!**

**Almost 80 reviews...I'm so grateful...**

**So there's a poll in my profile, and I hope it mean something, because I'm giving YOU guys the opportunity to choose this one. But WARNING; CHOOSE _VERY CAREFULLY!_ You ONLY GET ONE VOTE! So...yeah.**

**Check out my good friend's stories,**

_**TheForbiddenMelody-**__**Never stand Alone**_

**AND**

_**AquaDestinyEmbrace- Bad Things will always happen.**_

**Let's try to get the reviews up to 85-90-ish...It's 79 now, let's see where that goes :)**

**The more reviews I get, the quicker I update!**

**Love you Popstars!**

**-Celie**


	17. A Good Day (Part 1)

**Okay, The date is here...Get ready...**

**Okay this chapter will be entirely Nick/Tess...**

**I DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD GAME!**

* * *

Bonnie looked at me expectantly as Nick walked closer to my side. I crossed my arms and sighed at her. Nick was now at my side.

"Just one of the newcomers. Bonnie, meet Nick. Nick, meet Bonnie." I introduced them. Bonnie smiled at Nick and a friendly smile formed on her face.

"Hello there, Nick," She said, smiling. "Welcome to the Community. I'm Bonnie, as you already know."

She held out her hand to him for him to shake. Nick looked at her hand for a moment before he took it.

"Hey, Nice to meet you." He replied, shaking her hand briefly before pulling his hand away. Bonnie nodded at him before she turned her gaze back to me.

"So, where are you two goin'? Not far, I assume?" She asked, tampering with her Walkie. I eyed the Walkie for a moment before putting my hands on my hips.

"Yeah, we're just gonna walk to one of the nearby pharmacies and see what kinds of meds we can find. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll find some nearby survivors. If anything gets out of hand, I'll need a Walkie. You think you can get me one? I left it in the storage room." I explained, tapping my fingers on my hips.

Bonnie blinked for a moment before she slowly nodded, "Yeah...sure. I saw it on the counter earlier today. The one with the green band, right?" She asked, just to be sure. I nodded, justifying her correct. "Yep. That's it. Meet us back here. And could you hurry it up? We're getting low on Meds by the day and we really need more."

Then she looked at Nick for a moment and reluctantly walked off quickly, leaving Nick and I standing there. He glanced at me and then at Bonnie's retreating figure.

"You guys each have a Walkie?" He asked. I nodded, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. The Walkies are for whenever we get into a tight spot, or if we need to let people know stuff. In this case, it's probably for both." I explained, shrugging. Then I frowned. "Hey, We're walking to the pharmacy...hopefully we'll get something special there...Maybe I can teach you to aim correctly with a gun." I half-joked, punching him in the shoulder.

Nick frowned and looked away from me, sighing.

"I know, I can't shoot for shit...It makes me feel like a...useless...I feel like I can't do anything..." He muttered, holding my hand. I frowned, tilting my head. What...? He felt like he was useless? Damn...Not a lot of self esteem these days...

"Why...? What...Why does it make you feel useless?" I asked, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles. Nick looked at me sadly. I blinked, waiting for him to explain. I needed to know.

"Go on..." I urged, squeezing his hand.

Before he could even open his mouth, Bonnie's voice shouted, "Tess! I found it!"

Damn it, Bonnie...

We turned around to see Bonnie running up to us with a Walkie in her hand. Hers was in her belt. The Walkie had a strip of green tape around the bottom, indicating that it was mine. She slowed to a walk as she approached us with the Walkie. With a small smile, she handed it to me. I gladly took it, "Thanks, Bon," I said, winking at her.

She chuckled and winked back. "No problem," She inquired, "It was on the counter, like you said it was."

"That's good," I stated. "Am I connected to you...or...?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Naw, You're connected to Reggie. If you need anything, just contact him." She explained, then she glanced at mine and Nick's intertwined hands. I kept my face still; Freaking out wouldn't help anything. Nick stared at Bonnie, waiting for her to go away.

_Aw, shit. Don't take notice, Don't take notice...Don't think anything, Don't think anything...Go away, Go away..._

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at us suspiciously before walking away.

"Be careful, you two...Don't go crazy going into a herd..." She called over her shoulder. We stared until she was out of sight.

Okay, that was...That went better than expected...

I sighed in relief as Bonnie turned a corner without a second glance. Bonnie's not one to question, but she can make you squirm a little in her own way. Nobody knows who she'll tell. I'm hoping she doesn't though...I don't think I can take the thought of bringing up a protected relationship without Dad talking to me about it...Nope...Not gonna happen.

My hand tugged at Nick's, ready to get away. He complied by following me.

* * *

"So, we're going to the pharmacy, Huh?" Nick asked me as we neared the entrance of camp. I nodded, holding up a finger for him to be quiet as I held up my Walkie.

"Hey Reggie, I'm heading out. If Dad gets back and I'm not back by then, just tell him I'm on a run with one of the newcomers. If he asks who, just tell him it's a guy named Nick. Don't get nervous, and DON'T tell him where we are. Bonnie's gonna take care of that. Got it?" I ordered into the Walkie. Then I lifted my finger off of the button, waited for Reggie to reply.

A moment later,

_"*Click*,_

_Right. Got it. Tell him it's just Nick...Why would I get nervous..?"_

I sighed and clicked the button again. "Because I know you get scared _shitless _at the sight of my Father. If he demands anything, just tell him I told Bonnie. Tell Bonnie what I told you. Okay? I have faith in you."

_"*Click*_

_Y-Yeah. Don't worry. I won't disappoint you."_

I smiled and chuckled into the Walkie,

"I know you won't, Reg. T.L.C out" I said, turning off my Walkie. I put it in my bag as I turned around to look at Nick.

Nick raised an eyebrow. "_Reggie_? Who's that?" He asked suspiciously. I rolled my eyes and moved to open the gate.

"I'll explain later. He's just a friend." I explained as I tugged on the huge door, attempting to pull it up, but it wouldn't budge. I noticed a rope near the side...I noticed it was connected to a small hook, which was attached to the upper handle.

_I'm stupid..._

I walked to it and pulled on that, then the door was pulled up a little. Nick just stood there, staring at me, not knowing what to do as I struggled with the monstrosity I called A 'Rope'.

It wasn't hard to believe he was still a little new.

I looked at him in annoyance.

"A little help here, Nick?" I remarked, pulling on the rope with all my might. Nick blinked for a moment before he quickly walked in front of me and pulled the rope with me, tugging it with all of his strength.

Eventually we got the door open enough to let ourselves out. We had to walk quickly, though, because that gate always came down pretty quickly. It was heavy for a reason; it's all metal. It could kill you.

We walked out into the front, and surprisingly, there were only about 10-20 Lurkers out there. Pfft! Nick and I could easily outrun them if we were careful.

Nick widened his eyes and looked at me. He wasn't too fond of the Lurkers: Hell, nobody was. But Nick didn't know what to do, and that's what scared him. Whenever he didn't know what to do, he looked to others for help. I was SO gonna teach him how to survive today...or at least this week...

I grabbed Nick's hand and ran around the perimeter of the Lurkers. I made sure we took a more quieter route around them, and only one or two saw us. But we were able to outrun them before long. It didn't take long at all, actually.

Haha, slow Lurkers.

* * *

Before long, Nick and I were walking along a path toward the pharmacy. It took about 15 minutes to get there by foot, and we were halfway there.

A comfortable silence surrounded us, and Nick was the one to break the ice.

He asked me, "So...What are we doing?"

I held his hand as we walked. I thought about it for moment, pondering over the fact that we DID need more medicine, and Nick needed to know how to properly survive...but it was a date...Well, an unplanned date...

Maybe it'll seem like a gift, teaching him how to survive...make him not feel so useless...

"Maybe..." I said, hesitating a moment. "Maybe we could...um...teach you some things about survival, get to know each other better, get some medicine...watch the sunset if we have time...But you can decide all of that..."

I looked up at him to see what he thought. He had a thoughtful look on his face as he thought about this. I waited patiently as we walked, gently swinging our hands back and forth.

After about 2 minutes of flat silence, he finally decided to talk.

"We could do all of that..I..I'd like that..." He whispered, holding my hand tighter. I smiled at him, walking slower.

"Are you sure, though? I mean, we could skip the meds and say Lurkers sidetracked us..." I said, looking him in the eye. I needed to know if he was comfortable with doing all of that.

Nick nodded, "I'm sure, babe. I'm sure." He assured me with a gentle, warm smile. "Don't worry about what I want. If it means I can become stronger, then we'll do all of that."

What a gentleman...

I let it go and sighed, resting my head on his shoulder. "Today's a good day..." I said.

Nick looked at me, his eyes sparkling. "Yeah...It is."

I giggled as he pressed a kiss on the top of my head.

* * *

**Yep. This is a divided chapter...**

**Kill me.**

**SO! I have figured out what to name the baby, thanks to you all. It's name is gonna be (SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER)**

**LOL! If you want to know, check my profile! The poll is still there...I need more votes if you want it to happen!**

**By the way, I'm gonna make a fic about Carlos, and his wife who I'm probably gonna name her Evonne. She doesn't die, but she probably won't get back together until later in the Season. But I don't know. I'll figure it out. What do you think? GIMMIE IDEAS, EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE CARLOS!**

**So...Yas.**

**DA DATE IS GOING ON AT LAST! AT PRECOUS LAST! **

**YASSSSS!**

**We're nearly at 90! Let's try and reach 90-95!**

**REMEMBER TO VOTE!**

**Love you Popstars!**

**-Celie**


	18. A Good Day (Part 2)

**WARNING: SUPER-LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**A/N: Hello, Popstars! Celebrityfan here! There's a few things I want to announce, so here I go...Get ready... **

***Listen up!***

**First of all, my profile will change.**

**So I won't be Celie/Celebrityfan for much longer! Instead, I'm gonna be...**

**Tess Carver**

**or **

**Evonne/Reyes/Lisa Arce (An oc whose name I cannot decide for Carlos's wife and Sarah's mother/Stepmother...Evonne or Reyes or Lisa? Mother or Stepmother? Vote in the new poll!)**

**And you're not gonna be my Popstars! You're gonna be my Lil' Lurkers!**

**The rules will be posted on my profile whenever I change into Tess or whomever's Carlos's wife's name is...VOTE, PLEASE!**

* * *

**I feel like this is gonna be fun! **

**So, the baby Tess will have (If you haven't figured it out already) will/won't be conceived here in this chapter. YAY NICK/TESS! But there will also be Luke/Tess, and that's where the confusion "WHO'S DA BABY DADDY?!" gets going.**

**When Nick and Tess do it here, she won't show any symptoms.**

**The second time, who knows.**

**The third, who knows.**

**But somewhere between the third and what happens with Luke, that'll be around the same time period when they leave (I'm guessing Rebecca would be around 6-7 months pregnant when she leaves with the group, and I'm estimating the current time to 9 months (DUH). Then Tess would be showing symptoms then...Like RIGHT AFTER they leave XD). **

* * *

**So the date is going on, and what's gonna happen is:**

**1. Talk about pasts. (And suspicions)**

**2. Kill some LurkAHS!**

**3. Get the Date GOING! (Get to the pharmacy)**

**4. Last-minute medication supply run.**

* * *

**Well, this was a long Author's note...LOL**

**I'm probably killing your time, so...**

**ENJOY DIS CHAPTER!**

* * *

**I DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD! (PS: There's surprise in this chapter...Guess WHO!)**

* * *

I remember how the date went; It was amazing-Well, as amazing as a date can get in the Zombie Apocalypse...

My memory goes as far as Nick and I walking down the path toward the pharmacy together, holding each other's hands and staring ahead of us for any Lurkers (Thankfully there were none.) in a comfortable silence. It was peaceful for a while; No Lurkers anywhere, No Leader-Asshole-Protective-Dad bossing you around, No crazy Catholic mother going all "YOU SINNED!" on your ass...Like I said; very peaceful.

And then Nick broke the ice.

"What's going on with your Mom lately?" He had suddenly questioned, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. I looked up at him, puzzled.

I tilted my head and raised my eyebrow. "What do you mean?" I asked innocently. Mom wasn't one to show her problems in public, especially if she was arguing with Dad. Her main job is keeping the schedules in order (and raising people's hopes of God saving us, She says.)

"Well," Nick explained, "Sometimes I see her and Carver together, she seems happy. Then whenever Rebecca's around, Coleen turns, I guess I should say, depressed. Not to mention she's off for hours at a time with the Bible in her hand."

I sighed quietly and looked down at my feet.

I knew I could trust Nick, so I just decided to tell him about the past.

"Mom and Dad...They're-um, well, complicated. Their relationship, I mean. Their relationship gets on and it gets off, but nothing close to serious. Ever since Dad met you guys when you first arrived, he's had his eyes set on Rebecca. What scares me is that she's a married woman, but that doesn't seem to bother him." I explained, annoyed at Carver in general. What's wrong with him; hitting on a married woman? Stupid-ass...

Nick raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"What? But...For God's sake, isn't Carver himself married to Coleen?" He muttered more to himself than me.

I awkwardly dipped my head down and cleared my throat, not exactly too keen on the actual divorce-talk. I _was_ getting ready to tell him a minute ago, but...both my brain and heart had other plans. Me and my big mouth...Damn it.

"Like I said, their relationship wasn't too great...Off and on, y'know?" I reluctantly blurted, hoping that Nick would just put two-and-two together.

Nick glanced at me and blinked, having to have noticed my obvious awkwardness.

_Obviously he hasn't realized it!_

"What's wrong-oh, Do you not want to talk about whatever's going on with them?" He asked, clearly confused. I would be, too. I mean, I didn't tell him they weren't divorced...but I didn't say they weren't married, either...

_Face it, Tess. You just said that you could trust him...Chin up and be a tough bitch. Use that Carver courage!_

Nick stared at me, silently waiting for my reply. I was surprised to think that he would be that patient.

I cleared my throat again, my confidence skyrocketing like a bullet from a gun. I lifted my head but instead of looking him in the eyes, I stared straight ahead with a cold, hard look on my features. I just couldn't look at him, even as I felt his icy blue eyes burning a hole into my head.

I quietly took a deep breath and spoke with a tone of voice as cold as ice.

"Life was difficult for me my entire life. Nearly a year after I was born, my parents divorced. Why they married in the first place, I don't know. Probably out of pity or something like that. But all I know is that one day my mother found out she was in a bed with my father as I was being conceived, then about a week or two later, BAM," I spread out my hands like I was giving off the jazz hands, "She was pregnant. And by who? No one other than my Dad. She believed she had sinned because of the child-before-marriage shit. But Dad made it official when he proposed on the spot. They married about 3 months later in the Catholic church where my mom grew up. After they divorced, They each a 2-month custody of me...wasn't that much fun with Mom."

I didn't have to look at Nick to know that he was shocked. Why? I assumed it was because his parents divorced later in his own life or not at all.

"Bu-why? You were _so _little...Even I wasn't that young when my mom divorced my father..." Nick had a disbelieving tone. I wouldn't blame him. Many people who went through this shit like myself, such as Nick, have experienced this kind of crap from their families; divorce.

My facial expression started to soften into a frown, but I still couldn't look at him.

"I guess...they just weren't meant for each other, Y'know? With my mother's religious beliefs and my Dad's stubborn demeanor and how my parents were raised all in all, I guess it just impacted their marriage." I explained, my tone of voice becoming less cold and more softer as I spoke.

Nick hesitated before he questioned, "...How were they raised? If you don't mind me asking..."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose before I started with my father's story. "My Grandmother Yvonne wasn't the best mother in the world because she drank. a lot. But she wasn't a Jerk-off of a drunk, just an alcoholic, one of those normal but sluggish drunks. Why she drank was mostly because my Grandfather Rod wasn't at home for weeks at a time. But when he was around, him and my dad would go off practicing shooting guns and whatnot."

I stopped to finally take a breath and to see if Nick was willing to hear more. My life story with the addition of my parents' stories are pretty long. I'm _so _going to badger him about his life when I'm done...

Nick nodded, encouraging me to go on.

I licked my lips, wrapping my arm around his waist.

I continued, "My mother's mother, Carrietta, was a very religious bitch. Insane...She was very fanatic about God and how my mother was a result of her Sin. Gramps was always there, but then something happened, and Carrietta...she...Rod was killed in cold blood one night. That's when my 9-year-old mother was dropped off at that Catholic church I told you about. My great-grandfather Murray worked there as a priest. He took her in and raised her in the ways of the Lord while Carrietta rotted in an asylum, where she died at least 20-ish years ago...I'm worried mom's going to end up like..."

I stopped speaking. I couldn't explain anything anymore. My eyes were burning with the feel of tears. The subject of my mother's life wasn't my thing to talk about. But I felt like Nick needed to know. I may have been considered crazy, but I felt like I could trust him.

And I needed his trust, also. He told me about his father, so why not tell me more, if any? I needed to know his life story.

"Carrietta...Damn. What was her maiden name?" Nick suddenly asked. I looked at him weird; The fuck? Why would-

As if he had read my mind, Nick blurted, "Just wondering. I read a book one time about a girl named Carrietta White...I'll be damned if her maiden name was "White". That book was so detailed, I actually used to think that Carrie actually existed..."

_HE'S READ THAT BOOK!? He ACTUALLY THINKS MY GRANDMOTHER IS CARRIE-FUCKING-WHITE?! THIS IS TOO GOOD!_

I let out a giggle. That giggle turned into a laugh, and that laugh transformed into hysterics.

Struggling to breathe, I slowed our walk to a stop as I let go of his waist to bend over and catch my breath.

By the time I had calmed down, I had tears leaking out of my eyes and my stomach felt like it was going to explode. That was hilarious! He had lifted my spirits quickly!

I found myself on my knees on the ground, looking up at a pouting Nick.

"Don't make fun of me, Tess..." He whined, crossing his arms.

"What? The book's not that scary! Carrie doesn't exist! Stephen King's just a messed up motherfucker! You had the wildest imagination, I swear!" I argued, getting up and brushing the dirt off of my knees.

Nick 'hmph'ed and kicked a pebble in the dirt, a frown on his face.

Great, now I felt bad.

"Nick, I'm sorry, okay? Don't go into a depression. Lighten up," I nudged his shoulder with mine as I walked along the dirt road ahead of him. I heard Nick sigh behind me before I heard his nearing footsteps.

Now, speaking of a dirt road...We were very nearly there.

* * *

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